薔薇公 :ばらこう: The Thorn Prince
by firewolfsg
Summary: The courtship and attainment of the Thorn Prince. An excerpt was first posted to the Saiun Challenge LJ for the July 2008 Prompt: Crack!Fic. The story just took off. Shounen Ai
1. Prologue: A Very Special Little Boy

DISCLAIMER: The characters belong to Sai Yukino and Kairi Yura, Kadokawa Shoten, Madhouse Studios, etc., i.e., not me. I'm just borrowing them for a while to spin a tale.

* * *

**薔薇公 (ばらこう): The Thorn Prince**

By firewolf

_Prologue – A Very Special Boy_

Shouka gazed at the Kou's mansion with a touch of melancholy as he thought of the last time he stayed within its walls. He hadn't been back since Reishin was made the Head of the Kou clan while he was exiled.

For all that Reishin hated the Clan for exiling his beloved Aniue, Shouka knew his younger brother couldn't have so lightly reversed his sentence. However, this sudden pardon and summons, which also involved a petition to the Emperor asking for the Black Wolf's assistance, herald some very serious event.

"Aniue!" Reishin practically ran into the gardens to greet him. "Thank you for coming so quickly."

"Of course I rushed, my brother." Shouka assured him as he let Reishin take his hand in greeting. "Your message sounded most urgent and--" Shouka coughed awkwardly. "You did create an unusual precedent to get me here."

Reishin waved it off impatiently. "The situation warrants it.

"Please walk with me, Aniue." Shouka followed his brother curiously. "Do you remember seeing a young boy with me during my last visit to Kiyou?"

Shouka frowned thoughtfully as he found a memory of a timid child with aquarium hair and sad fearful eyes. "Yes." A wry smile touched Shouka's lips as he also recalled their first encounter. "Quite an imaginative and-- intelligent lad."

Reishin gave him a curious look, but Shouka didn't think his brother needed to know the little boy had accused Shoukun of pulling Reishin's affections away from Yuri Hime then. It had greatly amused them.

"I named him Li Kouyuu. I used the 'Kou' in 'red' and the 'Yuu' of the river."

Shouka's eyes flickered to the embroidery of plum blossoms on the collar of Reishin's robes. He mentally counted the strokes then stared at his brother. "You will never have your own children, will you, Reishin?"

"Kouyuu is my **son**. I need no other children!" Reishin snarled back. "Besides, Yuri doesn't want to add to the succession mess when that fool brother of hers passes on. And you know it **will **be a mess."

Shouka sighed as he nodded his reluctant agreement to the statement. The current Emperor was indeed a fool enough that the Kou's and the Ran's abandoned his court years earlier. As he was exiled before that event, Shouka was the only Kou 'representative' left in Kiyou. However, these troubled thoughts were quickly forgotten when they entered a part of the grounds Shouka once remembered as barren and disused.

The elder Kou was greatly impressed by what he saw. In all the years he had lived there, Shouka thought nothing could ever be done with the ugly corner. Now though, the ground was covered in a lush carpet of grass and the area surrounded by an artful riot of colourful flowers and bushes of vibrant green.

"Amazing! I didn't know we had such talented gardeners in Kou."

"We don't." Reishin sighed as he stood beside a beautifully flowering rose bush. "Aniue... Kouyuu is responsible for this."

"What?" Shouka looked at him in shock. "He's only-- eight, isn't he, Reishin? Surely--"

"He did not use gardening tools. And-- just three days ago, this part of the land was as you remembered it; barren rock and dirt."

Shouka fell silent as he studied his younger brother, understanding what Reishin didn't want to voice. If they ever wondered where Kouyuu was originally from, they now knew. The only reason why Shouka and Shoukun were left alone was because she lost her powers when she left the Hyou's. However... Shouka looked around the vibrant garden. There was no way Riou would let this amount of talent slip through his nets. Shouka matched wits with Riou enough times to predict he would immediately come for the boy once he heard of his powers.

"Reishin, do you love Kouyuu?" Shouka faced his younger brother directly. He had to know how committed Reishin was in his feelings for this boy; if he would embrace a Kou/Hyou clan war for him.

"Aniue... I-- I can't lose him." Reishin told him very honestly. "Not especially to a family who abandoned him to-- to--"

Shouka gave his younger brother's shoulder a gentle squeeze of understanding, indicating he didn't have to go on. In the weeks after Kou came to live with Reishin and Yuri, Reishin had sent several letters to him filled with much ranting and vociferous descriptions of the boy's physical and mental scars which told a very sad tale of his early life as a slave.

"I need help, Aniue." Reishin admitted in a very small voice. "The Hyou's will hear of Kouyuu eventually. And--"

Shouka took his brother's hands in his. "Kouyuu is the son of the clan's head, and my nephew, Reishin. You even gained the Emperor's blessing, so the Wolves will stand with the clan too."

Reishin gave Shouka's hand a grateful squeeze. They had little time to say more though as the boy at the centre of the turmoil to come suddenly appeared dragging a bemused Yuri after him. "Reishin sama! Look what I did."

Upon seeing Shouka though, Kouyuu immediately ducked behind Yuri to peek at him from around her robes. Shouka could see that the little boy had blossomed under their care. Though shy, he didn't seem as timid a little thing Shouka had glimpses of during Reishin's marriage.

Yuri reached behind her to pet his head. "Kouyuu, don't you remember Shouka sama? He's the one with the Rose lady and the two children."

Shouka had to look askance at Reishin for this unique description. "His first name for Shoukun sama was 'Bara Hime.'" Reishin shrugged. "Don't ask me how he knew."

Shouka shook his head in wonder as Reishin approached his family. Kouyuu was shyly led out to face them and Shouka was astounded to find the boy holding a branch of flowering plum blossoms when the season had clearly ended several months earlier.

Reishin let out a quiet sigh as he knelt to bring himself down to the boy's level while accepting the branch of flowers. "Kouyuu, this is very pretty, but please, you need to be careful and stop doing this so openly."

"Why? I can make the garden nicer for you. Didn't you like the new corner?"

"Yes, yes. It is beautiful, Kouyuu." Reishin assured him quickly. "It's just-- This-- this magic that you do. You're a very special little boy. I don't know where you've learned your spells bu--"

"But there are no spells." The little boy protested in mild outrage. "There are no words of power or string of special arcane words. That's all nonsense. You can set trigger words, but all the rest is-- It's just--

"I'm not special!" Kouyuu told them vehemently. "You're like me too, Reishin sama. You can do this too. Or maybe something like what I do. There's just this black thing tied around you holding you back. Shouka sama too!"

Before anyone realised what was happening, Kouyuu reached over to grab some unseen object barely an inch in front of Reishin's chest and gave it a hard yank and twist. Shouka thought he heard something snap, but to Reishin it was apparently much more as his eyes widened in surprise and he fell off his knees to sit abruptly on the grass.

The earth began to tremble around them.

* * *

To be continued...


	2. Chapter 1: Treasure of the Kou Clan

DISCLAIMER: The characters belong to Sai Yukino and Kairi Yura, Kadokawa Shoten, Madhouse Studios, etc., i.e., not me. I'm just borrowing them for a while to spin a tale.

* * *

**薔薇公 ばらこう: The Thorn Prince**

_Chapter One – Treasure of the Kou Clan_

By firewolf

_Over a decade later, in the palace of the emperor of Saiunkoku..._

"Aniue! Please—let me abdicate in your favour." Ryuuki was on his knees begging his bodyguard for succour from the drudgery of morning court for the fourth morning in a row.

Seiran sighed as he shook the imperial robes at his younger brother. "Stop embarrassing yourself and get dressed, Ryuuki. You **know **I can't ever return to the palace without causing another civil war.

"And if that happens, how do you think Ojou sama will look at you?"

"Shuurei?!" Ryuuki wailed as he finally got to his feet to reluctantly pull off his sleep robes and allow his brother to help him get dressed. "It's all her fault, her and her father for getting me into this thankless position in the first place! The paperwork is killing me and **she **didn't even have the decency to pass the exams I went to so much trouble to have her able to take."

"She will try for it again next year." Seiran reminded Ryuuki as he helped him do up his hair. "You have to admit, she did well enough considering she hadn't had much access to the exam materials and didn't have a tutor to help her study for it.

"At least you got her a job 'helping' Shouka sama in the archives. So she can study to her heart's content while helping her father to maintain the royal archives."

Ryuuki sighed. "Yes, and I can visit her there whenever I have time to spare. But I haven't! Seiran, the bureaucracy is endless and the paperwork mountainous. Half the time I don't even know if I'm making the right decisions or—or—" The emperor hid his face behind his sleeves and let out a sob of frustration. "It's hopeless—the Kingdom's going to fall into ruins during my rule and Shuurei will be so mad—"

Seiran rapped Ryuuki on the head to stop his whining before the returning maids could hear their Emperor openly admit that he was only doing the job because of love for Kou Shuurei. "Ryuuki—come on, or you'll be late for breakfast and have to wait until morning court is over before you can get something to eat."

* * *

"Emperor Ryuuki, really—we must do something about the Kou Clan." One of the officials announced urgently. "Their power in trade and industry has just been uncanny and ruthless among all the provinces. Their reach has gone too far."

"Too true, your majesty. There's been talk that they mean to challenge even your power." Another official spoke up. "And it could become a reality, Emperor Ryuuki. Their power and influence in our nation is currently at a significant peak, and truly rival yours."

"We would need time to deliberate on this matter." Ryuuki responded cautiously. "While we have noted that both the Ran's and the Kou's withdrew their officials from our court during the reign of our predecessor, neither has indicated any hostile action against us.

"It would not do for us to act in haste, as it could well be taken as a declaration of war."

"Still, your majesty, to let this situation run unchecked…"

"We will deliberate on this matter."

* * *

Back in his rooms with the descent of the sun, Ryuuki let out a long sigh and looked casually out his window. "Have you heard the latest concerns of the courts, Indigo?"

The man resting against a tree outside Ryuuki's window and in the lengthening shadows of the setting sun nodded almost imperceptibly before he spoke. "The Black Wolf sends his regrets. It is an awkward situation for him."

"We would never ask something so painful of him." Ryuuki assured his visitor. "Indigo—do you know what could be done to blunt the power of the Kou's without death?"

"T—that is my wish too, my Emperor, and perhaps—possible… The Wolves of the Wind have gathered rumours that the Kou's have had a new power rise in the last several years; something which they cultivated quietly and was influential enough to fan the flames of their development in commerce and industry."

"Something magical?"

"When have there not been magical mishaps without the Kou's involvement?" The shadow shrouded man laughed softly. "This was the family that eliminated or assimilated the last of the Hyou's, who were previously the foremost family in sorcery before the Kou's arose in that field."

"With the assistance of one none more infamous then your mentor, the Black Wolf; who stole Bara Hime from the Hyou's and tipped the scale of power to bring about their final downfall?" Ryuuki asked teasingly.

"The Black Wolf would scoff at your suggestion, your majesty. I have asked before and he claimed their downfall began long before that." The dark shadow shook his head. "He never did explain it to me, but I have heard him say that their fall began with their abandonment of a child."

"I've heard that tale too." Ryuuki admitted thoughtfully. "But—I've also heard that it wasn't uncommon for the Hyou's to abandon their men-child since it was usually the women who had powers; so why this particular boy then?"

"I have no information on that matter, but we've strayed from our main discussion, your majesty. Let me investigate the heart of the rumours surrounding this new rising power."

Ryuuki let out a long sigh. "If you can, bring it back with you... The spirits know** I **have need of such magic to help me tame and lead our Kingdom out of the chaos it is currently in. But if not—"

"I understand, your Majesty."

"Shuuei—" Ryuuki stood to look directly at the shadows, stopping his visitor from leaving. "You needn't keep your distance and only visit when duty calls. We—I've missed my old friend."

"Your ma—Ryuuki…"

"It isn't as if Shouka-sama will scold you. He's told me before that it is usually a relief to be able to have the freedom to drop the persona in the light of day."

"Yes, he has told me that too." The shadow lifted his face so that Ryuuki could see him properly in the light of the rising moon.

"It matters not to me that the Ran's gave you up." The Emperor stood up straight as he said this firmly. "I want you, Ran Shuuei, as my friend and at my side, even without your affiliations to the Ran Clan.

"Seiran could use backup as my bodyguard, Shuuei." Ryuuki added softly. "I could arrange that for you."

"I—would like that. Perhaps after I return, Ryuuki... until then… Your Majesty."

"May the Spirits speed your return then—Indigo."

* * *

In a land dominated by mountains and the snow of the winter season, there was just one place in the entire Kou compound which showed some signs of life; a tower that loomed over the entire compound with walls that were covered in a vibrant green briar of blood red roses. It was therefore not surprising that Shuuei found himself gravitating to it immediately.

Shuuei shivered with the biting cold as he walked around the tower trying to discern the presence of an entrance, but he could find none. Sighing in exasperation, he looked up the tower to where a lone window shimmered from the light within. As compared to the other areas of the Kou compound, this imposing tower seemed to be the most challenging to enter.

Shuuei thought again of his preparation before his departure from Kiyou, and of how Shusui had quietly helped him to gather his tools for the breaching of the Kou woven enchantments that protected their family manor. He looked at the faintly glimmering charm tied to his belt, knowing what it had cost Shouka sama to have made it for him to ensure his safe passage while on Kou lands. Staring up again at the light from the window which illuminated the falling snow that danced past it, Shuuei firmed his resolve to complete his investigative mission and grimly began his climb up the briar of roses.

He moved carefully and as lightly as he could over the thorny brunches, hoping that the one who set up the enchantment didn't go so far as to make the thorns poisonous. Fortunately, he had little to fear since his gloves and boots seemed to be holding up well against the sharp thorns. It didn't take him long to reach the open window, however, what Shuuei found within the tower stunned him speechless.

The tower room which belonged to the window was dominated by books, scrolls and mountains of paper piled only a little neater than Ryuuki's office on a bad day. Shuuei was almost expecting to see the Emperor's white blond hair poking up above the mound of papers littering the desk. The owner of this table, however, appeared very different.

For one, his hair was much shorter than Ryuuki's, and appeared to be tied perfunctorily with a worn leather band. For another, it was of a most unusual shade of aquamarine. And most significantly, this boy used his brush like the way Shuuei fought with his sword; the writing tool seemed to dance across the surface of the paper in quick movements that appeared to cover the paper in a neat script like magic.

Also, Ryuuki did not mutter darkly under his breath when he did his paperwork. Ryuuki was pretty smart, but he certainly didn't have the ability to grumble about one thing while writing something completely different. Not like this boy apparently, who Shuuei swore couldn't be all that much older than his emperor.

His quiet introspection, however, was soon broken when the boy finished writing and placed a seal on the work before looking up at him. In the instant their eyes met, Shuuei believed that his soul was literally sucked into the intense grey gaze. Unfortunately, the boy reacted differently.

"Assassin!"

Before Shuuei could gather his wits to speak, the boy was out the door in a flurry of papers. The slam of the heavy door shook Shuuei from his stupor and he let out a curse as he quickly dashed after his target. It would not do for the boy to raise the alarm and bring the Kou guards on him.

He barely made it through the closing curtain of thorns at the bottom of the tower; a thicket Shuuei knew would have easily imprisoned him in the tower if he hadn't scraped pass the thorny edges. He could well guess that the useful window he had seen earlier would have probably been closed off as well to block escape that way.

Seeing his pursuer still behind him, the boy bolted for the mansion. What made Shuuei continue to give chase and not turn around to escape the Kou estates, he'd not be able to explain when asked later. But after half an hour of running after his quarry, Shuuei was also starting to wonder why he hadn't yet come across any guards. Didn't the boy raise the alarm?

Then, he saw something which brought him skidding to a halt. "Huh? Didn't I pass this vase—**three **times already?"

On a hunch, Shuuei decided to stay where he was and true enough his patience was rewarded when his quarry came barrelling right into his arms three minutes later. He immediately clamped a hand over his prisoner's mouth to stop his scream for help.

"Wait! I just—I just want to talk. I'm not going to hurt you." And to his shock, Shuuei realised he meant what he said.

The boy's attention, however, wasn't on him but on something behind them. Curiosity made Shuuei release his captive's mouth while he cautiously looked over his shoulder. Behind them was the vase that caught Shuuei's attention earlier and which was now rocking precariously on its stand.

"That vase—It's one of Reishin-sama's favourites."

The boy's scared tone decided it for the apprentice-assassin. Shuuei immediately released his prisoner and made a dive for the now toppling vase, managing to catch it before it could hit the ground and shatter into a hundred pieces.

As he got up to replace the vase on its stand though, Shuuei was berating himself for his unprofessional actions. He had released his prisoner to save a decorative vase! He was quite sure the boy would have fled by now to raise the alarm.

However, for the second time that night Shuuei found himself shocked speechless when he turned around. Against all expectations, the aqua-haired boy was still standing where he had left him looking at Shuuei thoughtfully.

"Thank you for saving the vase."

"You—you're welcome." That was all Shuuei could think to say to the sincerely given thanks.

"Well... I was going to take a break anyway." The boy shrugged before looking up shyly at Shuuei. "You—don't happen to remember passing a kitchen somewhere, do you?"

For the third time that night, Shuuei was speechless. He stared at the boy for a moment before letting his eyes drift to the tower with its briar of red roses which loomed over the entire estate. The one structure which anyone could see from anywhere on the Grounds—ensuring the boy could always find his way to it and his office.

"You regularly get lost in your own mansion?" Shuuei blurted his revelation before he could think to control his tongue.

The boy's reaction was immediate and fiery. "Hey! This is a magical abode and I can't help it if the magic decides to relocate the rooms and gardens every now and then."

Seeing the flushed face boy before him ranting and generally getting himself all worked up over magical gardeners and builders who'd regularly moved trees, ponds and whole rooms around the estate, it took a herculean effort for Shuuei not to burst out laughing, but he managed to control himself. He just knew that the boy wouldn't treat him kindly at all if he laughed.

"So anyway." The boy finally wound down his ranting. "I'm hungry.

"You can come along if you want a bite."

"You—won't try and—poison me, would you?" Shuuei had to ask cautiously.

"Hey! At least try my cooking first before you make cracks about it!" The boy flamed back at him. "Do you know where the kitchens are or not?"

As a matter of fact, he did, so less than an hour later, Shuuei found himself looking dubiously at a pile of misshapen steamed buns and a plate of messy looking lumps of minced meat wrapped in yellow paste set before him. "Well? Help yourself." The young boy sat facing him and with his own chopsticks served himself with a bun and a few pieces of what he claimed was shiumai.

It took only a tentative bite for Shuuei to change his mind and begin eating what he was offered with gusto. His new friend may have lost points for presentation, but in taste? Only Kou Shuurei's offerings could stand in challenge of it.

They chatted then, and Shuuei found out that 'yes' it was this boy who did most of the Clan's paperwork, management and administrative planning to ensure the smooth running of the province. So this—this boy was the secret behind the Kou Clan's power; the one responsible for the effective assignation of the Kou clan's resources to ensure the province's growth and prosperity.

Shuuei was astonished by the boy's ability. "**You **alone take care of all of the administrative duties? But—you're so young—"

"I'm not a child! I'm nearly twenty and I've been helping Reishin-sama ever since I could read." Shuuei knew better than to challenge him on that. From the way his eyes shone when he spoke of the head of the Kou Clan, the boy clearly held the man in high esteem.

"Why are you here anyway?" Grey eyes regarded at him suspiciously.

"I'm not here to kill anyone, if that's what you're really asking." Shuuei looked haplessly at the younger boy. Orders or no, he just couldn't stand the thought of harming this—new friend. And the idea of kidnapping? Never!

"Oh, well—that's good then."

And with that, the subject was forgotten as they turned to chatter of other things; art, literature, music, politics… Shuuei had a thought that the boy must have been very isolated and lonely to want to speak so freely with a complete stranger.

Too soon, however, Shuuei found himself escorting the aqua haired scholar back to his tower. Before they reached it though, the boy released a white and a pied finch from a sleeve pocket which quickly found and pulled open the thorn curtain door for them. At Shuuei's curious look, his new friend quietly admitted that he usually employed the two finches to guide him around the mansion and lead him to people he wanted to meet.

It didn't take long for them to be back in the tower office where they companionably sorted out the mess of paperwork that had been scattered when the boy ran from him. As it turned out, the boy's bedroom was on the next level up. And it had shocked and horrified Shuuei to learn he practically spent his whole life in the tower. However, his new friend placated him with the assurance that he had voluntarily moved himself into the tower a few years back. It was a logical move given the amount of work and his lack of desire to try and navigate the uncertain terrain beyond the tower back to his usual bedroom in the dark.

With that proclamation, however, Shuuei suddenly found himself standing in the moonlit office with a bedroom door firmly closed in his face and the boy's shout of 'good night' ringing in his ears. He had stayed in front of that door for the next hour, straining his ears to listen to the sounds of the boy getting himself ready for bed until there was no noise except for the sound of his own breathing.

And he stayed in that distracted pensive state through his return trip to Kiyou, somehow making the journey safely. Shuuei even managed to shut himself away in his rooms at the palace without speaking to anyone.

It was nearly half a day later before a worried Kou Shouka paid Shuuei a visit to check on his apprentice. "Shuuei? Are you well? Did something go wrong?" The older man asked cautiously as he knocked on the boy's door.

"Come in. And no, everything's just wonderful." Shuuei called back quite dreamily while he lounged on his bed twirling a red rose between his fingers.

At Shouka's raised eyebrow, Shuuei waved the flower at him. "I found this caught in my cloak when I got back."

"You got lost in Reishin's rose maze?" Shouka was alarmed. The charm he gave Shuuei would have protected him from mortal injury if he fell into any of Reishin's imaginative traps, but the dangers of the Rose maze would have severely taxed the charm's powers.

"Did he have a garden maze? I hadn't noticed."

Now Shouka stared at his apprentice in complete bewilderment. One could hardly have missed noticing the rose maze even if they didn't enter it, especially if that person was not a member of the Kou family. The charming little rose garden became frightfully imposing walls of roses and thorns when outsiders came onto the manor grounds. That Shuuei didn't see the magical structure just dumbfounded him.

"No. No. I climbed a thorn covered tower speckled with beautiful red roses to gain the window of the Kou's treasure."

"Do you mean there was truth behind the rumours? That there's actually a treasure at the estates which brings luck to the Kou Clan?" Shouka was shocked but he wouldn't put it above his brothers to fool around with a bit of magic and create a magical charm. With the ascension of the Kous in the realm of magic, it was clear enough to him that Reishin was toying with the idea of creating magic imbued artefacts just like the Hyou family used to do.

"Oh, yes. There was a treasure all right. I found a prince in the tower; a Bara Kou."

"Bara Kou?"

"That power of the Kou clan was a young man, a boy really." Shuuei continued dreamily as if his mentor hadn't spoken. "He does all of Kou Reishin's paperwork and keeps the affairs of the province running smoothly."

"A boy?" Shouka stared dumbly at his apprentice while wishing he could stop himself from stupidly repeating Shuuei's words. However, he hadn't seen Shuuei this sappy and distracted since that embarrassing period when he had a boyhood crush on his elder apprentice, Shusiu; a crush which the boy fortunately got over before he irritated the woman to a point she'd cause him bodily harm.

"He's just slightly shorter than me; about a year younger; has intense grey-violet eyes; and the most unusual aquarium hair..."

"Ah, you met my nephew, Li Kouyuu." The description cleared all of Shouka's fears and puzzlement, though it made him sigh inwardly for his younger brother's clear exploitation of his son's hero worship.

"Kouyuu? Li? That's what his name is?" Shuuei practically pounced on his teacher when this important bit of information finally registered in his distracted state.

"You didn't introduce yourselves?"

"Er—" Shuuei blushed. "We got to talking about everything else..."

Shouka gave him a knowing smile. "And did you manage to keep up your end of the conversation?"

"Barely..." The younger man's eyes fairly shone in his memory of their encounter. "He's brilliant, but he doesn't flaunt it or make me feel inadequate like—"

"Your younger brother?" Shouka asked gently as he thought of the eccentric Ran Ryuuren.

"You could say that."

As the fourth brother in a group of five, Shouka always suspected Shuuei felt 'ordinary' and redundant in comparison to the elder triplets and the younger genius. And that couldn't have felt more so when his elder brothers sent him to Shouka. With his new vocation as 'assassin' the boy did realise that he had been quietly disinherited as well.

"Shouka-sama, you said you knew Kouyuu?" Shuuei ventured almost timidly.

"My middle brother's adopted son." Shouka sighed, a little melancholy for the boy. "He was given the family name 'Li' because Reishin didn't want Kouyuu to be stuck in a family he himself had little love for."

"But he makes the boy do all the management and administration that's leading to the Kou clan's dominance in commerce and industry in our kingdom!" Shuuei protested heatedly. "The boy is really brilliant if he's leading the Clan so well with just paperwork. But that seems to be the only thing he does all day!

"Servants bring him all his meals. His mother and adopted little brother sometimes visit him and bring tea. His father drops by during the evening meal to pick up the finished work and give him more. He even sleeps in that ruddy tower!

"It's a wonder he isn't fat from lack of exercise, but lifting piles of books and scrolls must be strenuous enough to keep him fit. I never imagined books could be that heavy."

Shouka let his apprentice continue to rant and rave about his new found crush. Or was this true love? Shouka couldn't remember Shuuei ever being quite this passionate about another person before. And yet...

The sappy look on Shuuei's face reminded Shouka of how he was himself when he met his wife, Bara Hime, eighteen years earlier. An idea came to Shouka then, and he decided to pay a visit to his brother to talk about his adopted son...

* * *

To be continued...

Thanks for reading.


	3. Chapter 2: Howls of Outrage

DISCLAIMER: The characters belong to Sai Yukino and Kairi Yura, Kadokawa Shoten, Madhouse Studios, etc., i.e., not me. I'm just borrowing them for a while to spin a tale.

* * *

**薔薇公 (ばらこう): The Thorn Prince**

_Chapter Two – Howls of Outrage_

By firewolf

"An intruder! We had an intruder who waltz past all our defences and got to Kouyuu! He got to my **son**!" Reishin was understandably stark raving mad.

Yuri rolled her eyes as Shouka gave her a curious look. "Don't mind him, he's been going on and on about it ever since Kouyuu let us know about the intruder two days ago."

"Oh dear, and how many days after the intruder visited was that?" Shouka asked cautiously while mentally counting the days Shuuei had taken to go and return, then the time he himself took to journey to the province.

"About three." Yuri laughed behind her sleeve while her husband continued to curse and swear and generally make a huge commotion over their manor's failed security.

"Well, at least he's not breaking anything."

Shouka's sister-in-law had to turn away to laugh with that statement. "He did that and more two days ago, and my son's only comment was that Reishin had broken the vase the intruder saved because the man was concerned for his distress."

It was Shouka's turn to hide his laugh behind his sleeve. However, as amused as he was with his younger brother's ranting…

"Reishin, your intruder clearly did not carry ill nor harmful intent in his heart. He wouldn't have been allowed to enter the grounds otherwise." Shouka reminded him gently. "My wife and I made sure of that in the enchantments surrounding the manor when we rebuilt the walls after the war."

Reishin's eyes gleamed in delight at the statement. "Yes, I do remember.

"Kurou still complains to me daily about having to conduct half of the Clan's business in the city rather than on our protected grounds. It's a pity we can't just dispose of the status hungry sycophants we have commerce with.

"But what happened with the briar rose cutting Shoukun sama gave me?" Reishin glared at his older brother. "I was assured that it would protect Kouyuu from any who would harm him! It's never failed so spectacularly before."

Yuri only shook her head at this and gave Shouka a nod to mark her move to leave the bothers to their visit. She had a twinkle in her eye as she touched the rose she was wearing in her hair.

"And was Kouyuu hurt?" Shouka's smile was quite wide now to have his confirmation of Shuuei's story and his sister-in-law's knowing look.

"Well... No, but that— that— 'intruder'—" Reishin let the word drip from his lips as if it was something distasteful. "**He's** all Kouyuu will talk about all **week**!"

"Kurou and I have told you before that Kouyuu needs to be around more people his age."

"Ha! Then he'd be complaining to me all day about the shallow half wits and simpletons I make him associate with instead of letting him get productive work done!" Reishin threw back. "That's why he reopened and shut himself up in the tower ages ago; to avoid the simpering idiots who'd come seeking favours or an alliance."

As a deterrent to self-aggrandizing status seekers, Shouka rather thought it to be an overkill to hide one's self in a thorn covered tower in the centre of a maze. Of course Kouyuu didn't see it that way, and since Yuri showed Shouka the storage room of paintings and marriage proposals her son had amassed, the concerned uncle could understand why his nephew was so agitated about the whole matter. Still, Reishin didn't have to re-erect the tower quite that high.

"But this— this intruder... Kouyuu's been gushing!"

Shouka seriously doubted that. His nephew was too stoic, studious and disciplined a young man to act like the love sick loon his younger brother was describing to him. However, **Reishin**, on the other hand, had always been known to give in to exaggeration in matters regarding those he loved.

Shouka tried not to let his grin grow too big as he firmed his resolve to put his plans into action. "Reishin?"

"Yes, Aniue?" Reishin easily cut off his ranting to listen to his elder brother with shining eyes.

"I happen to know who the intruder was. Have you heard of a Ran Shuuei?"

"Yes, of course.

"He's the brother that came after the Troublesome Triplets." Reishin stiffened when understanding dawned on him. "A Ran?! A Rascally **Ran **got through **my **defences?!"

"Now, now, Reishin." Shouka interrupted his brother before he could start off on a long rant about the alleged 'rascally' attributes of that family. "It sounds like Kouyuu is quite taken with the young man. And let me assure you, Ran Shuuei is also equally smitten.

"I wanted to suggest we let them get together— officially."

"What? As in— in **marriage**?!" Reishin stared at his brother in horror. "Allow Kouyuu—**Gift **my son, to the **Ran **Clan? Never!"

"Actually, the triplets disinherited this particular Ran and gave him to me about three years back to be my successor in—" Shouka paused in slight dismay. "Oh dear, that sounds worse, doesn't it?"

"Aniue…" Reishin gave his elder brother a pained look.

"Well, put it this way. I know you don't like the Kou clan. Yet you've essentially bestowed Kouyuu to them this way, haven't you?" Shouka beamed at his little brother. "From what I hear, the Kou province hasn't seen this level of growth and prosperity in over a century. And Kurou wants to have Kouyuu established as your successor to ensure—"

Reishin had an immediate change of heart. "Kouyuu!" He practically ran for the wall mirror at the other end of the room. "Kouyuu! Pick up your mirror!

"Kouyuu!"

"Reishin-sama?" The boy peered cautiously back at them from the wall mirror.

"Start making preparations to put your affairs in order. You will be moving to the Capital city, Kiyou.

"Shou-Aniue came to me with a marriage proposal that is just **perfect **for you." Reishin announced cheerfully. "You will be wed as soon as I can get a good date from a reliable fortune teller."

"WHHHAAATT—?!"

Shouka winced as the mirror's image went black. He guessed that Kouyuu must have dropped his message mirror in shock and shattered it. That herald seven years bad luck. But—come to think of it, as talented as his nephew was, it probably would take about that long for him to help Emperor Ryuuki straighten out the Kingdom of Saiunkoku.

* * *

Three voices clashed at Shouka's announcement of his successful 'mission'; two incredulous, one delighted.

"You arranged Shuuei's **marriage **to who?!"

"Reishin dono is allowing his precious son to **leave **the Kou estates?!"

"You **gained **me Kouyuu's hand in marriage?!"

Shouka hadn't had this much fun in ages. "Oh, it was easy enough to persuade my younger brother once he was convinced of your sincerity, and understood that it was in Kouyuu's best interests."

Indeed, the 'rascally Ran' had quite suddenly become a most fine and respectable young gentleman in the face of Kurou's howls of protest at the impending loss of Kouyuu's talented ability to administrate and manage the Kou Clan's resources. Reishin even refused to consider Kurou's suggestion to have Kouyuu marry Shuurei, despite the attractive idea of becoming his beloved niece's father-in-law and being able to keep her and his son close to home.

"Thank you, Shouka sama." Shuuei blushed shyly, refusing to look at either Ryuuki or Seiran whom he hadn't told the full story about Kouyuu, beyond what was required officially.

Staring from the uncharacteristically blushing Shuuei to the beaming Shouka, something suddenly clicked in Ryuuki. "All right then! We have to get you properly set up with a respectable position in my Court if we don't want Kou Reishin to suddenly change his mind and back off from this contract.

"Seiran?"

"Well, all I can say is 'it's about time.'" He put a hand on Shuuei's shoulder and started to push him towards the exit. "There's an Over General I know who has been interested to meet with you for quite a few years now."

"Over General?"

"Would you really prefer the career track of a Court Official ?" Ryuuki waved a hand at his piles of paperwork.

Shuuei blanched at the thought. Seiran chuckled as he firmed his grip on his adopted sibling's shoulder. "So the military track it is."

* * *

As could be expected, Kouyuu was quite difficult over his sudden impending marriage despite the enthusiastic blessings given to it by his adopted father. Shouka supposed Reishin could have made it easier on the boy if he hadn't instigated such a fuss over Kouyuu's wedding robes. The boy wore finery like an embarrassment, and he was completely horrified at the final product his sickeningly cheerful father brandished at him.

It had seven layers in all, starting with a gossamer white under robe, through to a pale scarlet final robe (which Kouyuu insisted was more pink than red). The maroon edges were delicately embroidered in white plum flowers with deep purple hearts, and the back and bodice of the robes were further decorated with the Clan's symbols of the phoenix and the Kirin in glimmering gold and purple thread. It was certainly the finest dress robes Shouka ever had the privilege to lay his eyes on.

"You can't—You **can't **be expecting me to wear **that**?!" The revolted expression on Kouyuu's face was almost too amusing for Shouka to contain his mirth for his nephew's horror. "It's—It's—Reishin Sama?!"

"Do you expect me to have you married in a sack cloth?" Reishin flicked his ever present fan in irritation. "You will wear it, Kouyuu. I insist.

"You will be dressed in the finery of the Kou's befitting your station as the **son **of the Clan's Head."

While Kouyuu didn't miss his adopted father's emphasis on the word 'son', he was clearly not going to give up without a fight. "But **father**." Ahhh, Shouka was glad to see that Kouyuu wasn't above using emotional black mail as well. "Wouldn't this—level of finery be better suited for Shuurei?

"After all, she is the recognized Kou Princess and it does sound like she's on the path to eventually marry the **Emperor**."

As expected, Reishin was momentarily distracted and taken up with the image of his beloved niece. "Oh—Shuurei. She so deserves the best—"

The Kou Clan's Head, however, was much too old a hand at emotional manipulation. "But her time will come when it comes. Furthermore, she's much too good for that—'Emperor.'" He dropped that last word with a clear sneer.

"This—my **son **was commissioned for **you**." Kouyuu was about to open his mouth to further protest, but his father's next words stopped him cold.

"And you **are **deserving of the finest robes that money can buy."

"Father…"

"You will have a new life in the Capital city, my son. And you will make me proud." And that was the last said of it, to Reishin and Shouka's relief.

However, the boy managed to get the last laugh. For when the morning came, the beleaguered tailor found the primary colour of his masterpiece changed from pink to a pastel green, much like Kouyuu's normal wardrobe.

Since he left the maroon edges and the embroidery of the clan's symbols untouched, Reishin allowed Kouyuu to have this tiny victory. He took it as his son's promise to actually wear his wedding attire rather than skip out at the last minute to be wed in simpler dress robes. And at the end of the day, it was a colour which better suited Kouyuu's aquarium hair anyway.

* * *

On the Ran's side, however, another bit of drama was emerging...

Shuuei was understandably put out with his brothers and sister who hunted down and descended upon him in Ryuuki's study, then bodily carried him out of the palace in front of the Emperor and his newly appointed superior. Seiran had kindly waved off his embarrassment, but Ryuuki's gales of laughter followed him out the door and down the streets of Kiyou.

"You can't just suddenly waltz back into my life and take over the details of my marriage rites?!" Shuuei protested even as his brothers manhandled him through the gates of the Ran Clan's Kiyou abode. "I'm no longer a Ran Clansman! I've been **disinherited**. Remember?"

"Technicalities." One of the triplets waved him off as he finally released Shuuei's legs to allow him to stand. "You are **still **our brother. And therefore **appearances **must still be kept."

"We have heard of the preparations made by the Kou's, little brother. They've opted for traditional dress robes and the full twelve day ceremony." Another triplet petted him on the head fondly before releasing an arm. "We can't have you embarrassing us."

"Certainly not! Kou Reishin would **never **let us live that down." Finished the last triplet who cheerfully straightened Shuuei's clothes and collar after he released him; he even tweaked Shuuei's nose when he was done despite their younger brother's clearly outraged expression. "Now hush, and let your elder brothers take care of arrangements for you."

"But—"

Ran Ryuuren and Jyuusan Hime, grabbed Shuuei's arms to steer him out of the family room, where there was already a growing gathering of merchants eager to offer their merchandise and services to the Clan leaders, and back towards his designated suites in the Ran's Kiyou mansion.

"Foolish elder brother #4, you're not going to win this argument." Ryuuren informed him cheerfully. "Why don't you just settle back in and leave them to it?"

"Ryuuren, I have not been back here since—" Shuuei started to protest, but his half sister cut him off neatly.

"—you were sent to Kou Shouka sama to—'study' under him. But it's different now, Shuu-Aniue." She grinned up at him impishly. "And you really didn't have to go live with him, you know? The triplets were expecting you to still be living here. You were **never **disowned.

"But we're not talking politics now. **Marriage **is an affair for **families**."

"But—"

"You do know you're wasting your breath, don't you, Foolish elder brother #4?"

"Ahhargh!" Shuuei shook off his siblings' hold to storm into his bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

However, he didn't have much time by himself to stew in his frustrations as he spied a familiar looking white finch peering into his window. When he opened it, the little bird immediately flew in and dropped a tiny rolled sheet of paper in his hand which quickly expanded into a message scroll.

**_Shuuei, _**

**_Shouka sama told me who you were and I wanted to warn you that your family are probably going to descend on you very soon. That is, unless I'm too late and they're already making you as miserable as my father is making me. _**

Shuuei sighed as he looked over his shoulder at his closed door. He wondered if he could possibly elope with Kouyuu without causing a Clan war between the Rans and the Kous. He turned his gaze back to the neat script on the scroll.

**_Please don't misunderstand me to think that I am unhappy with the prospect of marriage to you. In all honesty, I don't know you well enough to make that kind of judgement. We only spoke for a short while that night when you 'visited'._**

Shuuei had to laugh at the diplomatic way Kouyuu described their first and only encounter to date.

**_So—I suggest we write. And try to get to know one another before that day. _**

**_My finches can carry messages between us without our having to worry about them being intercepted by our 'well-meaning' families, so please write whatever you wish to and whatever comes to mind. You can use ordinary paper and ink. The enchantment on the finches will ensure your message is shrunk down to a size manageable to them._**

**_Well, since I started this—_**

**_I'm really Kou Reishin's adopted son. A boy he found in the mountains. I remember little of my childhood, and I'd rather not put on paper those details that I do remember. He took me in when I was seven, and I've been with him ever since. _**

**_And 'no' I didn't always live in the Briar Rose Tower. It wasn't ever called that until some months after I started doing the paperwork for the Kou Province. __Reishin-sama_****_—_****_Father and I spelled it to always stay warm for me and be visible no matter where I stood on the mansion grounds._**

**_I had wondered though, how you managed to avoid the rose maze and climb the briar of thorns. Then my father told me that you've live with Shouka sama for about three years now and should have picked up most of the Black Wolf's tricks. However, Shouka sama told me privately that he probably wouldn't have been able to climb the tower without damage._**

**_Have you any idea what he might have meant? _**

**_Sincerely, _**

**_Li Kouyuu._**

Shuuei smiled, feeling a whole lot better for this marriage-craze which Shouka-sama seemed to have started. He supposed his encounter with Kouyuu must have reminded the Black Wolf of how he had met his wife, and Shouka sama was just trying to smooth Shuuei's way and make it an easier journey than he had taken nearly eighteen years earlier. At the least, Kouyuu was seemingly nicer to him than Bara Hime was to Shouka-sama when they first met.

As for Kouyuu's question—Shuuei stared at the letter for a long time.

* * *

Shuuei peered into the library cautiously to find his sister and sister-in-law pouring over a disturbingly old and fragile looking scroll. As he looked at Gyokuka whom he once had a crush on, Shuuei reflected then that the feelings he had for Kouyuu could not be compared to how he had once felt for any of his crushes. If asked, however, he would have to admit to still feel rather nervous about his impending marriage. Especially with all the activities his family was involved in.

"Oh? Are you done sulking?" Shuuei's half sister asked brightly when they finally noticed him.

"Hardly." Shuuei snorted inelegantly. "What **are **you reading?"

"We have twelve days of ceremony to prepare for with your wedding." Gyokuka lightly touched the page in front of her with reverence for the ancient material. "We're in charge of the research to make sure we don't embarrass our clan in front of the whole of Kiyou."

Shuuei barely withheld a shudder at the thought of the days to come. "Anyway… I just wanted to ask if you knew of any folk stories which had briar roses in them?"

"Oh! I didn't know you were a romantic, Shuuei." Gyokuka looked at him with a big smile.

"Those fairy tales were the best!" Jyuusan's voice was a little watery. "The briar roses always protected the princesses from any who might cause them harm."

"—and would only let pass their one true love." Gyokuka finished for her with a dreamy sigh.

"Oh!"

"What about it?"

Shuuei backed away quickly. "Nothing! Nothing."

"Hey! Wait! Don't run away."

"Ran Shuuei! Come back here! The tailors should be arriving shortly to measure you for your wedding robes."

Shuuei ignored them and fled. He locked himself in his rooms to read Kouyuu's letter again, grinning quite foolishly to himself. It took a pointed peck from the little white finch to remind him that Kouyuu was expecting a reply and 'could he get on with it'?

For such a tiny thing, the finch was a bold little fellow. Impatient too... Shuuei had to snatch his hand away to save himself from being pecked again. 'Like master, like messenger, apparently.' Shuuei chuckled as he looked for and laid out his writing instruments.

* * *

To be continued...

Thanks for Reading


	4. Chapter 3: Prewedding Preparations

DISCLAIMER: The characters belong to Sai Yukino and Kairi Yura, Kadokawa Shoten, Madhouse Studios, etc., i.e., not me.  
I'm just borrowing them for a while to spin a tale

* * *

**薔薇公 (ばらこう): The Thorn Prince**

_Chapter Three – Pre-wedding Preparations_

By firewolf

"Kouyuu, please! You can't leave! You just can't!" The aqua-haired scholar in question winced as he looked around frantically hoping there were no prying eyes to see his uncle Kurou's son prostrate himself so humbly before him.

"Hakuyuu!" Kouyuu hissed quite urgently as he tried to drag the older man to his feet. "Stop that. You're the eldest son of this family.

"You shouldn't be on your knees before me."

"Kouyuu! I'll do anything I have to. Please don't leave me with the administrative mess. I can't do it! I can't! I'm not as smart as you are."

"Hakuyuu..."

"**I** can marry you. Then you'll stay, right? Won't that work?"

Kouyuu went very pale at the suggestion. However, he was saved from having to reply by the interference of another party."Hakuyuu?! Don't be absurd. You're not standing in Kouyuu's way of happiness. I won't have it."

"Sera?!" Hakuyuu glared at his sister in betrayal.

"It's destiny that's led to this for Kouyuu." Hakuyuu's sister strode in and hit her brother upside the head before pinning a dreamy look on Kouyuu. "I hope I can be equally blessed when it's my turn."

"But Kouyuu's a vital part of the Clan! We can't do without him. Father's been miserable since Reishin sama broke the news. And he's looking at me to fill his shoes!

"Sera, I can't!"

"Nonsense! We've operated on a structured system for years." Kouyuu threw his female cousin a puzzled look, but figured his elder cousin's need was more urgent than his curiosity. "You just need to follow my schedule—"

"Waaahhh! I'll never have free time again!"

Kouyuu blushed at the reminder of his workaholic hours. He supposed he really should have hired an assistant ages ago, but he had enjoyed the solitude, the work, and the sense of accomplishment he got from it. "**You** don't have to do the job alone.

"Call in a few friends to form your management team and I'll run through the tasks with you before I leave."

"But you'll be leaving for Kiyou in two weeks!"

"Then you shouldn't waste any time gathering your subordinates, right?" Sera helped Kouyuu pull her brother to his feet and steer him out of Kouyuu's office.

"And you'd better bring me trust worthy people who are reasonably intelligent!" Kouyuu called down the stairs after them.

* * *

Yuri glared at her husband in disapproval as he gleefully turned off the mirror he had been using to eavesdrop on their son. "Really Reishin, this won't be amusing if all commerce grinds to a halt with Kouyuu's departure."

"Nonsense! Kouyuu is not selfish and will pass on his knowledge and the tricks of the trade to all who are willing to learn."

Yuri looked out the window pointedly to where Kurou's son and daughter were emerging from the thorn curtain that was the door into the Briar Rose Tower. Sera was practically carrying Hakuyuu who was crying on his sister's shoulder. Reishin's wide grin did not diminish at all with the sight.

"It's about time that boy started to look seriously at the so called 'friends' he associates with anyway."

"Kouyuu will throw them out the tower window if Hakuyuu dares to bring any useless sycophants to these 'lessons'." Yuri smirked.

"I think it'll be two losses before the rest take it seriously." Reishin agreed cheerfully.

Yuri shook her head. "Sera knows better than to let her brother make a poor selection of their friends. And Kouyuu's temper is very well known in the city."

"Oh?" Reishin looked at her thoughtfully then winced at the memory of the incident she was referring to. "He was **ten** when he dropped those boys into the Rose Maze. Surely the common folk have stopped talking about it. And Aniue and I did get them out before any of the boys were too badly hurt."

"Yes, and then we had the war with the Hyous in between where most of the citizens of Kou are aware Kouyuu was an instrumental force in ending it. And..." Yuri nodded to the tower. "The Rose Maze is now conveniently **outside **his window and not halfway across the compound, dear. A couple of Hakuyuu's friends were peers to those children."

Reishin shrugged. "Oh well. It just means he'll have less brainless idiots in the group Hakuyuu will eventually gather. That'll be good for his stress levels.

"I say Hakuyuu will need a team of ten to do Kouyuu's work."

"Only if he picks the middling-smart ones among his cohorts. I say six."

Reishin nodded to her when he thought about it. "Still, it'll be decades before they can handle the level of planning and foresight management Kouyuu's capable of."

"More than enough time for the other provinces to catch up and not feel our Clan has an unfair advantage over the rest of the country."

Reishin glowered at her for the reminder. As much as he disliked his own clan, it suited his competitive nature that the Kou Clan were so far ahead of their rivals. "I still don't like the idea of giving Kouyuu to the Emperor."

"Ryuuki is nothing like my brother, love." Yuri reminded him gently. "And as much as Shouka would like to protect us by not taking action, we did put him in a difficult position.

"We were fortunate that the investigator he sent had no intention of killing or harming anyone. Despite their history with us during the war, I doubt any of the other Wolves are as kind."

"I still don't understand how that rascally Ran got past the Rose Maze or up the tower." Reishin pouted unhappily. "He **shouldn**'t have even been able to **see **the tower with that as an obstacle. And no one in their right mind would have tried to enter the maze at night to reach it."

Yuri just grinned broadly at him. Reishin gave his wife a hurt look. "Yuri? I'm your husband. Why can't I know what Shoukun sama told you when she gave us the cuttings?"

"Because no man would believe the story until they've experienced it themselves." She told him brightly.

* * *

Shouka was snickering quite heartily to himself as he watched Shuuei steal out of his estates towards the castle. He really was enjoying this courtship and marriage drama he had started between his normally unflappable former apprentice and his stoic nephew.

"Shouka? What new mischief are you up to now?"

He started guiltily before turning to face his intruder. "Nothing! Nothing."

Shoukun eyed him suspiciously before she peered out the window to catch a glimpse of blue cloth. "Oh dear? Was that Shuuei? He's really lost his knack of sneaking around in those brighter clothes." She gave her husband a disapproving glare. "And how could you be so heartless as to send him away again after he finally escaped from his family?"

"The world does move on, and he needs to have his new status and identity firmly established." Shouka protested innocently.

She poked him on the nose in mild reproach. "And what did you decide he needed to do?"

"I know Ran Shuuei is a good man, but I also believe the rest of Saiunkoku needs to see Kouyuu with a **General**."

Shoukun raised an eye brow at that proclamation. "If it weren't for Kouyuu, your healing powers would have still been locked away by that centuries old curse and—" Shouka looked at their joined hands. "Our daughter would not have lived past her fifth year."

Shoukun's eyes softened as she regarded her husband. Shouka did not know it, but she owed Kouyuu **her **life, for Shoukun would never have allowed Shuurei to die. "Yes, and we do take care of our loved ones how ever we are able to."

"Once they are wed, we shouldn't be treating them like children anymore and allow them to decide their own future, but we can ensure they start their lives in as advantageous a position as possible."

"Not that I think Shuuei isn't capable, but how are you so sure he will win a General's post?"

Shouka grinned. "Shou Taifu won't accept anything less from a man trained by the Black Wolf."

* * *

The officer stared at Shuuei in amazement. "Can you teach me that move?!" He looked from where his sword lay to Shuuei standing before him. "I've **never **seen anything like it."

Shuuei winced inwardly. It was unlikely anyone would have, since the Black Wolf taught Shuuei the basic principles and helped him adept his own natural abilities to develop the move. "Er... " He blushed, embarrassed to have once more shown up yet another officer. He was starting to think that he had better down play his skills.

"Ran Shuuei!" Shuuei cringed to hear the imposing voice of Shou Taifu hailing him from across the practice grounds.

"Why are you beating up my instructors?" The imposing old soldier thundered as he steam rolled through the crowd of soldiers to reach him. "What **idiot **directed you here for your skills assessment?!"

"Er—"

"**You **had the finest sword masters the Ran's could afford teaching you before your brothers sent you to the **Black Wolf **to polish your skills, man. They should have sent you directly to **me**!" Shou Taifu looked around him nervously.

At the mention of the Black Wolf, all the other soldiers blanched and took a step back. The Emperor's Assassin was a legendary figure, Shuuei knew the officers he had defeated earlier were probably now overawed by him and feeling lucky to be alive after having dared to match skills with someone the Black Wolf trained.

"You were released to the military rather than completing your training under him on the agreement that we'll further develop your abilities. The Black Wolf will **not **be happy with us if he finds out we didn't set up proper assessments and tests to place his former apprentice!

"So who sent you here?!"

"Er—Shouka sama?"

Shou Taifu groaned and looked at the sky while he cursed under his breath about clueless civil officials. However, Shuuei was only now realising what his mentor's intentions were. Instead of a quiet private assessment which would have Shuuei suddenly enter the military at a possibly dizzyingly high rank the common soldiers were now privy to his skill and also knowledgeable of his association with the mysterious and legendary Black Wolf. If Shuuei was given a high rank after this, no one would dare challenge the appropriateness of the appointment or his skills as a warrior. And there would probably be no resentment felt against him either since his former apprenticeship to the Black Wolf would make him a mini celebrity in their ranks.

Still, Shuuei thought maybe he'd better rein in his performance so that he'd not go too far up the ladder. Skipping over the ranks was bound to anger some older soldiers who were already struggling with slow promotion rates in this time of peace.

"What about sorcery? How far have you progressed? You did learn combat magic, didn't you?"

"Actually—" Shuuei blushed, "We hadn't started the mage combat training yet. I'd yet to draw first blood with my sensei and until I did he wouldn't let me touch combat magics. He's only brought me through the protection and defensive manoeuvres."

"That's a pity. We could have used an instructor there." Shou Taifu sighed regretfully. However, his frown quickly turned into a sly grin with his next words. "But you'll probably have a better teacher with the Thorn Mage anyway."

"T—Th—Thorn—**Mage**?!" Shuuei's jaw dropped. "But he—Li couldn't have been—"

"Yep, thirteen when he helped the Kou Clan destroy the Hyous." Shou Taifu agreed as he clapped a hand on Shuuei's shoulder with a laugh. "You picked a formidable partner, Ran Shuuei."

Shuuei gulped as he thought back to his encounter with Kouyuu at the castle. The man could have defended himself and probably would have if Shuuei hadn't released him to save the vase. It put into perspective what Shuuei had thought was Kouyuu's naivety and nonchalance about their meeting. It could just have been confidence in his ability to protect himself on home ground. Shuuei reflected then how close he had danced with danger when Kouyuu asked him why he was at the Kou estates.

"Well, draw your sword and let's see how you do against this old soldier." Shou Taifu's words brought him back to the present. "Then we'll do an assessment of your strategy skills and knowledge to decide your final rank."

The giant of a man gave him a wolfish grin. "Oh, and I probably should mention, Ran Shuuei, that a **General **would be a more worthy partner to the Thorn Mage and the **son **of the **Head **of the Kou clan, than an ordinary officer."

Hearing this scuttled Shuuei's earlier plans of lying low. He set his jaw in a determined smile. "Bring it on."

The soldiers around them quickly scattered to let the two men have the whole practice yard as their battlefield. The 'assessment' bout between the to-be Ran Shogan and Shou Taifu was one to be talked about for years to come.

* * *

**_... Anyway, Reishin sama will probably be pleased to know he isn't marrying you off to one of the Emperor's secret assassins, but to a proper General now._**

**_However, while I have the rank, I still have to work on the experience and the seniority. Seiran's been gloating ever since he learned he has a General reporting directly to him. He's never going to let me live down not following him into the military earlier when Shouka sama would have easily let me take that path. But then, if I did that I'd never have met you nor felt this need to be someone worthy to be your equal._**

Kouyuu blushed when he read this. In the course of two weeks of exchanging nearly daily letters, he'd come to realise that Shuuei was a consummate flirt. He'd never have stood this sort of behaviour from his other acquaintances. However, the aqua haired scholar found he didn't mind it very much with his fiancé. It in fact made him feel warm and shivery within.

A knock on his door brought Kouyuu's attention away from the letter to see his adopted mother coming into his office with Riou who carried a loaded tray of tea and sweet buns. "Put away your work, Kouyuu and let's have a snack."

Kouyuu tried not to be too self conscious as he nonchalantly set his personal mail on top of the pile of reports furthest away from his visitors. Yuri Hime's eyes, however, were on his white and pied finches which were pecking and playing with a pretty blue ribbon on one corner of his desk. That brought on a full blush as Kouyuu belatedly remembered that the Kou clan used only red ribbons and strings for all their correspondence.

"Oh, Kouyuu." Yuri laughed gently while Riou turned away politely to hide his laughter. She quickly stepped forward to grab his hands before he could cover his face. "What is there to be shy about?"

Kouyuu went impossibly redder, making Yuri worry a bit that he might even pass out from embarrassment. "Kou-kun?"

He looked up at her slightly affronted. "You've not called me that since I turned sixteen."

"And you've not blushed this prettily since then too." She teased him gently. "But truly, my son, I'm glad to learn you're using your head and exchanging letters with your intended."

"It'd be stupid not to. We only met once yet Rei—father and Shouka sama suddenly think we should get married." Kouyuu grumbled. "That's kind of abrupt.

"You and Rei—father have been rejecting every proposal that's come for me since the war, mother. Why did father suddenly change his mind and agree to bequeath me to a—a Ran he hasn't even met? I thought father hated the Ran's."

"Yes, I'm quite aware of his ongoing 'feud' with the Ran triplets." Yuri smiled winningly at her son. "But you do know we didn't make this decision lightly, don't you? Shouka sama loves you almost as much as we do, Kouyuu. He has always felt indebted to you for freeing his wife's powers and breaking the curses that caused Shuurei's weak health.

"I know you have your doubts, Kouyuu, but rest assured you will understand and come to know that you and Ran Shuuei were destined to meet."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Oh for—" Riou rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Kou-Ani, your roses **let **him climb the tower."

"I know that!" Kouyuu protested picking up a bun and throwing it at his adopted younger brother, who caught it with a laugh. "But why was he allowed to, Ri-kun? I had the fright of my life when I looked up to find him staring at me."

Riou looked towards their mother in frustration. "What is it about Briar Roses that make adult men so blind to their enchantment?"

Yuri shared a conspiratorial smile with the former Hyou. "It isn't manly to believe in fairy tales, Ri-Kun."

"Ahem!" Kouyuu glared at his two visitors while he grabbed a bun for himself. "I know enough about sorcery to trounce both of you, what makes you think there's magic I can't or won't understand and accept?"

Riou had a big smile on his face. "You know what, Kou-Ani? I think it's **refreshing **that mother and I finally know something about magic that you don't."

"Why you—?"

Yuri's polite cough brought the adopted brothers attention back to her. "Ri-kun, stop teasing your brother. You know he's under a lot of stress right now. And Kouyuu, you really will understand one day. And you do trust in your roses, don't you?"

Kouyuu sighed as he stretched a hand towards the window. A few veins entered as summoned to gently curl around his arm before sprouting several blossoms of red roses and leaving the stalks in his hands. He offered the bouquet to his mother. "Yes, mother, I do.

"Ever since I received that first cutting from Shoukun sama, whether I consciously command it or not, they've always protected me."

"You are okay, right?" Riou asked him anxiously. "That ass hole didn't—"

"Ri-kun! Language." Yuri admonished the younger boy before pinning her elder son with her eyes. "Kouyuu, are you really all right—in here?" Her hand had reached for and touched his head.

Kouyuu took a deep breath and nodded solemnly. "It wasn't Hakuyuu's fault. I—should have suspected something when the briar wanted to bar Tijou from entering."

"But it's not your fault either!" Riou told him vehemently. "I don't know how Haku-nisan could stand him. He's such an insincere git."

"Kouyuu, don't you dare make it your fault." Yuri added firmly. "You've never encouraged him nor led him on. In fact, you've told me before that you shut yourself up here to avoid—'company' like his."

"Then why was he so obsessed with me?" Kouyuu looked up at them, the vulnerability and confusion in his eyes tugged so firmly on Yuri's heart strings she did not resist the urge to hug him.

"You've never bothered with idle gossip, Kou Ani, or you'd have heard about Tijou's string of conquests in the city."

"Pride can make people do foolish things, Kouyuu. You were probably the first person he's ever met who's been completely resistant to his charms. Even—Even Reishin and I were taken in." Yuri admitted shamefully.

"I hadn't realised either. He was practically a model student." Kouyuu admitted too. "I saw nothing wrong to let him stay while I explained a bit more about the ten year growth plans I had lined up for the Clan.

"How did you know to come?"

"Parental instincts." Yuri smiled wryly at him. "And Kouyuu, please be honest with me. Did he truly not hurt you?"

"He—had me trapped in my seat and I—I froze. But the briar pulled him off me before he could do anything." Kouyuu looked up at her. "Truly he didn't really threaten me with violence. He—" The aqua haired scholar blushed. "He was just trying to— kiss me."

"Kouyuu. There was no innocence in his intent." Yuri sighed with some exasperation as she regarded her son. "Else your roses would not have reacted so violently. He apparently intended to do more.

"Your roses are very protective of you. They would have pulled Tijou into the rose maze if Hakuyuu hadn't stopped them. Even so, Hakuyuu nearly threw him into the maze himself when he saw how badly he frightened you."

"Well I'm glad we've seen the last of him and his family. Kurou sama will see to it that they're sent as far away from civilization as possible. Let's see how that Tijou creep likes practicing his charms on sheep." Riou sneered.

"He—he was just upset that I never gave him a second look all these years, then suddenly became engaged to an—outsider." Kouyuu protested weakly as he flickered a look at his latest letter from Shuuei.

"Kouyuu!" Yuri took his face in her hands to make him look her in the eye. "It wasn't your fault. Stop trying to claim the blame for that boy's reprehensible actions.

"This Tijou was supposedly one of Hakuyuu's closest friends and even he recognized you were blameless in this entire affair."

"But Hakuyuu is also prejudiced. He was always protective of me when I was growing up. Even though my magic is stronger."

Yuri had to smile at the reminder. "Even now, Kouyuu. Even now—because in his heart, you will forever be his precious little brother."

She had always thought it fortunate that Kurou brought up his children well. It had been a relief to her that Hakuyuu and Sara readily accepted little Kou in their ranks as a child of the ruling family when they brought him home with them. Reishin had not been happy to have his son associating so closely with his younger brother's children, but Yuri won the argument of letting Kou have as normal a childhood as they could manage to give him.

To give credit where it was due though, Hakuyuu's behaviour with the younger boy was what finally won Reishin over. Kurou's son was a compassionate young man and he sensed the injuries inflicted on Kou's soul. The moment they met, Hakuyuu immediately took the younger boy under his wing and protected him from being bullied by the other clan children.

Even after Kouyuu revealed his powers, Hakuyuu would still unconsciously try and protect the boy and keep him safe from harm. Yuri was glad for this because her son was a gentle boy. He had a short temper which often prompted him to rash actions, but he was also closely attuned to life and nature and really didn't like to cause hurt to others.

Yuri sighed as she looked around the tower room which Kouyuu would soon be vacating. Until then she hadn't realised how well it had suited the whole clan that Kouyuu had shut himself up within its walls, surrounded by briar thorns and a maze only family could safely navigate. Once he was beyond the walls though...

Yuri wished with all her heart that Kouyuu would never be forced to use his powers to attack and protect a loved one again. She had always wondered if he ever truly recovered from that day his outburst of fear slaughtered a field of enemies and ended the Kou/Hyou Clan war

to be continued

* * *

Thanks for reading.  
Cheers, firewolf


	5. Chapter 4: Legend of the Thorn Mage

DISCLAIMER: The characters belong to Sai Yukino and Kairi Yura, Kadokawa Shoten, Madhouse Studios, etc., i.e., not me.  
I'm just borrowing them for a while to spin a tale

* * *

**薔薇公 (ばらこう): The Thorn Prince**

_Chapter Four – Legend of the Thorn Mage_

By firewolf

Safely ensconced in his rooms at Kou Shouka's residence with his sensei kindly running interference if his family appeared looking for him, Ran Shuuei was reading his latest letter from Kouyuu with some frustration. He noted that his fiancé admitted to his title as the Thorn Mage, but carefully avoided any mention of it again.

Shuuei glared at the briar rose which he kept in a small vase on his table in proxy of his at times bewildering fiancé. The Thorn Mage of the Kou/Hyou Clan war was a near legendary figure when he was a boy, and Shuuei was practically eaten up with curiosity about the reality of the man.

A knock on his door brought his attention to his two visitors bearing Manju and tea. "Are we interrupting, Shuu-kun?" Shoukun strode in with a tea service. "We really haven't had a moment to sit and talk since Shouka announced your marriage."

"Is it true, Shuuei? Kouyuu's roses let you pass to see him without offering any obstacles?" Shuurei practically pounced on him with excited glee, so different from her normal polite and practical nature.

"Well—" Shuuei set aside his letter to join his patron and her daughter at the table. "I didn't meet any obstacles beyond having to climb the rose briar tower."

"Oh! Than it really is true love! Kouyuu's roses have always been defensive of him for as long as I can remember." This girlish delight Shuurei was displaying was completely flooring Shuuei.

"Forgive her, Shuu-kun." Shoukun smiled at her daughter indulgently. "It's not every day that a fairy tale shows some basis of truth in real life."

"Speaking of legends come to life..." Shuuei eyed his visitors with a calculative eye. "The whole military knows the Thorn Mage will be coming to Kiyou."

The silence which shrouded the room was practically deafening. And Shuuei was becoming increasingly alarmed about the expressions of horror and dismay on Shoukun sama and Shuurei's face.

"Who told?! Was it that ass, Tijou? He didn't frighten Kouyuu enough and now he wants to make his life miserable at the capital?"

"Who?" Shuuei didn't understand the last part, but it had registered that a 'Tijou' had recently distressed his fiancé. "What did this bastard do to Kouyuu?!"

Shuurei flushed guilty while her mother gave her an admonishing look. "We have message mirrors between our home and the main Kou estates. Sara called me to say the creep badly frightened Kouyuu. But he's been punished and banished to the far reaches of the Kou province."

"Kou kun wasn't hurt." Shoukun assured the red faced Shuuei soothingly. "His roses pulled Tijou off before he could attempt any harm."

Shuuei blinked at the off hand, casual way Shoukun sama passed the comment. It suddenly hit home then how natural and ordinary magic and sorcery seemed to the Kous. To him who had only started on the path when Shouka sama took him under his wing, it was more a frustrating exercise. A skill he rarely used because it was not as reliable as his mind or his sword. For his fiancé however... He remembered then Shoukun sama and Shuurei's initial reaction before his distraction.

"Is—Kouyuu—ashamed of the title?"

Mother and daughter exchanged glances before they faced him. "Shuuei, perhaps it's time we told you a story." Shuurei flickered a look towards her mother before she faced him again.

"Shuu kun, understand that we are telling you this because Kouyuu will never want to revisit these memories and we know you won't want to hurt him through ignorance." Shoukun told him very gravely.

Shuuei nodded to her attentively as he pinned his ears back to listen. Mother and daughter told him the story together, one smoothly picking up the tale after the other seamlessly as if they were one person.

_**It is a story that began long before the founding of Saiunkoku, and has never been set on paper; only passed down by word of mouth from mother to daughter of Hyou blood. But we believe it's important for you to hear it, just as the men of the Kous were also enlightened during the Kou/Hyou Clan war.**_

_**Before Saiunkoku was formed, even before the time of Chaos from which our country arose, the land was at peace and magic openly prevalent in use. However, there was a family who hungered for power over all others; one which wanted dominion and rule over the existing government.**_

_**To accomplish this, they decided to cut all others from their natural powers. Their aim was to stand as the only family who still had magic and could then wield power over all others.**_

_**So they created a curse. One so encompassing, it would ensnare all living things which could tap into magic and cut them off from the power. Unfortunately, the family made a mistake in the curse. It was too encompassing.**_

_**Instead of leaving themselves untouched and able to use magic, the curse caught them as well, stripping them of their abilities just as surely as they had stripped others of their powers. And this therefore left the populace in confusion and completely defenceless against the enemies of humans. This disaster was what tipped the land into the chaos from which Saiunkoku emerged.**_

_**However, magic wasn't completely eliminated since the eight great sages still had powers; them and one small family which the curse for some reason didn't have a complete grip on. However, this family had but a piddling trickle of ability in healing, clairvoyance and some other mind arts which would appear among the women and the rare man. And yes, they were a branch of that family which created the curse.**_

_**This was the Hyous. That is why throughout history, no one would ever trust them. For though the details have long been lost to most, the people still remembered in their hearts that in a bid for power this family had toppled a peaceful government and plunged the land into chaos.**_

_**This lack of magic in the land was to prevail for centuries, till no one remembered that sorcery and minor magic was once as common as clouds.**_

_**That is, until a special little boy was born.**_

_**Unfortunately for the Hyous, they were impatient and as the babe showed no sign of magic ability at birth, he was abandoned and—**_

Shoukun stopped at this point to eye Shuuei warily before she continued.

**_He was given over to slave masters to raise and use._**

"What?!" Shuuei was on his feet and staring at her in horror.

"Shuuei, it—is now long in the past." Shuurei told him gently. "And it was one of the reasons why Kouyuu took so long to adjust to life as a proper child, rather than a slave brought up to fulfil his master's every—desire. He will never want to speak of or remember that time again. That is why we will tell you only this much of his origins."

Shuuei took his seat again. His face was very pale indicating to the women that he understood what they refused to voice, but his eyes were fiery with determination and protectiveness for his love. Shoukun nodded at him in approval for this attitude.

**_The child endured as best as he could under his harsh and demanding masters. And it was in this environment that he came into his powers for survival's sake, for he learned then his emerging powers over plants and other living things. It was this power which allowed him to secretly grow food to sustain him when his masters did not feed him enough, and medicines to tend his injuries when his masters offered none._**

**_In what he thought was his seventh winter, the boy's luck seemingly ran out when his current owners took him to the mountains as a sacrifice to the gods and left him tied to a tree in the ice and snow. In that barren cold land devoid of living things, the boy managed what he thought was his greatest and last enchantment. From the wood of the tree he had been tied to, he made two wooden finches into which he breathed a spark of life. It was his thought that these white and pied finches would be his companions and could bring him peace in his final moments._**

Shuuei stole a glance at the pied finch which was playing with the red ribbon on his desk. He hadn't realised they were with his fiancé for quite that long.

**_However, the two finches did not stay with him and unexpectedly took to the sky and flew away. Seemingly abandoned even by his creations, the boy gave into despair and let his tears fall though the wind would freeze the droplets on his cheeks. He almost missed their return with a stolen handkerchief and a Kou man in tow. A man who freed him from what would have been a cold lonely death and carried him into the warmth he would eventually learn to trust as a family's love._**

"Reishin dono?" Shuuei breathed suddenly understanding then how and why Kouyuu came to be so devoted to the man. Shoukun nodded as she smiled at him.

**_The Kou man brought him into his household, but at first the boy expected to be treated like a slave too. He didn't know how to just be a little boy and was too afraid to trust. Eventually though, the Kou family melted his defences and won the boy's love._**

**_Little did they know that with this love, they also prompted this special child to break the centuries old curse on the people of the land. For this boy could see the threads of the curse which bound the magic within an individual. And in his childish innocence, the boy broke the threads for the Kou man who took him in, letting the man feel the powers of the earth course through his veins and fill his entire being._**

**_Unfortunately, the ripples of the breaking curse were to be felt all the way back to the family which created the curse; the same family that abandoned the boy. The clan heads at that time could not have ignored this show of magic. However, the Kous in turn refused to let their adopted son be taken and exploited by the clan that condemned the boy to a childhood of slavery. And so began the war that would embroil the two families in covert strife for nearly five years._**

**_The ever small clan of the Hyous had within their ranks people of skill and power. However, the Kous had strength in numbers and an ever growing population becoming skilled and learned in the ways of magic, for their favoured adopted son was a generous and natural teacher._**

**_However, because of his youth, the Kous did all they could to hide the reality of the war from the child; for they did not want to distress the gentle boy with the knowledge that his existence was at the centre of the clan war. Instead, they shrouded their plans of defences in games with the child who saw to the creation of a rose maze and a tower covered with a briar of thorns. For it was in this tower the clan would hide that which was most precious to them. And this would be where the spouses and children of the defenders would reside during the war. Still, they could not keep the war a secret from the boy forever._**

**_The Hyous were not fools. They eventually realised that the longer the war dragged, the greater the Kous were able to arm themselves and grow used to the ways of magic. In time, the mind games of the Hyous would no longer be effective against disciplined soldiers trained by the legendary Black Wolf who had ever thwarted the mechanisms of the clan, even in the days when he was without magic. With his magic released as well, the feared assassin was now able to walk through walls and in the very earth upon which his enemies might stand. And the rulers among the Hyous knew it would only be a matter of time before the Wolves of the Wind descended upon them and ensured they troubled the Kous no more._**

**_It was in this mind that the Hyous launched their desperate assault on the Kou stronghold, instigating a direct confrontation which the Kou clan had always tried to avoid. Their calculated and vicious attack quickly overwhelmed the Kous defences, pushing the defenders hard till the Kou brothers were themselves standing with their backs against the Rose maze which protected their loved ones._**

**_Could the Hyou forces have overcome these three defenders who were then the greatest among the Kous? That question would never be answered, for the boy at the centre of the Kou/Hyou clan war had stood witness to the attack from his tower window and he could no longer hold back his fear for his protectors._**

**_The Kou brothers could only stand helplessly as the briar moved then, arching over the heads of the Kou defenders to crash upon the Hyous like a thorn bearing tsunami. The Hyous on the field stood no chance against this slaughter and over a hundred men and woman died in the attack. Thus was the war ended, as the rulers of the Hyous were wiped out to the last man by one whom the populace came to call the Thorn Mage._**

"Kouyuu..." Shuuei was horrified by the thought of what the act must have done to his gentle spirit.

"Kouyuu went into shock when he felt the ripples of the deaths he caused." Shoukun told Shuuei gravely. "For two weeks, he lay in a near coma watched over night and day by Reishin and Yuri while the rest of the Kou clan celebrated the victory and dealt with the aftermath of burying the dead and absorbing the little that was left of the Hyous into our society."

"We couldn't do anything when talk started up about the Kous having a 'Thorn Mage' who was at the centre of the war and who also ended the war." Shuurei sighed in frustration. "Only the Kou Clan, the emperor and the three elders knew this referred to Kouyuu. It is a Clan secret akin to that of the identity of the Black Wolf, and the citizens of Kou are loyal to a fault to our family. No one else should have been allowed to make the connection."

"It is not a title Kouyuu is proud of, Shuuei. And it is also dangerous for this kind of attention to be attached to him. Of those who can accomplish magic among the citizens of Kou, the Thorn Mage remains the only one able to see the ever weakening threads of the curse that surrounds the people of Saiunkoku."

"Weakening?"

"Yes, weakening. Since the blood of the Hyous flow through Kouyuu, when he first broke the curse on one who was not of the Hyous he caused the curse to unravel. It will eventually dissipate and our society will once more be one where science and magic can coexist. We could even enter another golden age." Shoukun told him honestly. "Kouyuu can aid the sloughing off of these bindings. It was what he did for me to restore my healing powers when the curse took root over me after I left the Hyous."

She could not stop herself from reaching out a hand to grip her daughter's. "He allowed me to help my daughter, and also stripped away the curse which would have killed either of us. That was what the Hyous would have had him do for their clan; to release the powers of all their numbers.

"The Kou's refused to ask the same of him. Kouyuu did it of his own free will only among our family, the Wolves of the Wind and some retainers, guards and allies who were close to us at that time. Even then, some declined his full gift of release. Yuri Hime declined it. She was content to leave Seiran as the only fire mage among us. And he must guard the way he uses too if Ryuuki ever develops his powers."

"It's only because Kouyuu first broke the curse over a decade ago that people can once more begin to do minor magic now." Shuurei looked to the lamp sitting beside Shuuei's bed and with a flick of a finger caused a light to come alive on the wick. "It is why father is able to teach you what you are able to accomplish in magical defence."

"Undoubtedly, Kouyuu will probably offer to free you of the last threads that are holding back your own powers when he next sees you." Shoukun smiled at him. "Do not take this decision lightly, Shuu kun. There is a great responsibility behind this power that may be revealed."

Shuurei had a hand to her head as she frowned at a memory. "Father was rather wild eyed when he told us of the first time Kouyuu broke the curse on someone. Reishin sama almost levelled the Kou estates when he came into his powers."

"It was just too much too quickly." Shoukun laughed merrily at the memory. "Kouyuu was an impatient little boy once he finally learned to trust and settled in with the family. And he hated that curse. Fortunately, we managed to eventually talk him into breaking the curse threads bit by bit for the others who would later accept his gift."

"He is a good teacher, Shuuei."Shuurei informed him earnestly. "As long as you're willing to learn, Kouyuu can bring out the best of your abilities in magic."

"Even if he does not offer, I will never ask him, Shuurei." Shuuei told her firmly. "I will never draw attention to this ability, or to any memory of his past."

"But it may already be too late, Shuu-kun." The frustration on Shoukun's face was too clear to see. "The Military are the worst gossip mongers in our society. Word is eventually going to spread beyond the city and out to the rest of Saiunkoku.

"So who told, Shuuei?"Shoukun asked him firmly. "Who released the identity of the Thorn Mage to common knowledge?"

* * *

Shou Taishi sighed as he eyed his long time friend over their cups of wine that evening. "You have the Black Wolf completely furious with you, old friend. Even I might not be able to stay his revenge."

Shou Taifu's eyes immediately flickered towards the dark walls, and a drop of sweat trickled down the side of his face. "The boy is now a man. It is a title of respect. Not something which he should be ashamed of."

"But perhaps it would have been better for all if the Thorn Mage stayed in the legends of the Kou/Hyou clan war. And not come to life with his move to the capital city." Shou Taishi pointed out unhappily.

"I stand by my decision." Shou Taifu gulped down his wine nervously and poured himself another cup. "After all, it was the Black Wolf who started it by sending the Ran boy to the training academy to beat up my instructors. Ran Shougan needs to be seen to have an equal in his partner just as much as Li Kouyuu does in his capacity as the Thorn Mage."

"While this knowledge smoothes the way for Ran Shogun and Li Kouyuu to be accepted into positions of power within the Emperor's court, it also brings with it a great deal of trouble and danger, Taifu."

"We shall just have to see."

Still, it would be months before Shou Taifu stopped jumping at shadows and sleeping with several lamps lit in his rooms. He would never be sure, however, if the absence of any sort of retaliatory action was because the Black Wolf understood his intensions and forgave him, or if the dangerous man was just biding his time until he finally let down his guard.

To be continued

* * *

Thanks for reading.  
Cheers, firewolf


	6. Chapter 5: Dawning Perils

DISCLAIMER: The characters belong to Sai Yukino and Kairi Yura, Kadokawa Shoten, Madhouse Studios, etc., i.e., not me.  
I'm just borrowing them for a while to spin a tale

* * *

**薔薇公 (ばらこう): The Thorn Prince**  
_Chapter Five – Dawning Perils_

By firewolf

"Shuuei?"

"Yes! What can I do for you?" Ran Shogun practically leaped to his feet at the cautious utterance of his name, nearly scattering his neatly finished reports over the floor.

Seiran couldn't be sure if he should be amused or worried about how high strung his 'subordinate' had become with his impending marriage. "At ease, I was just wondering how you're coping with your new duties?"

Shuuei sat down at his paper inundated desk again and let his head fall on top of the latest missive he was working on. "I thought I took up the Military career track to avoid paperwork, not pick up a different set of it."

"You were the one who wanted to be a General." Seiran grinned at him heartlessly.

Still Seiran couldn't help feeling some concern for the stress his erstwhile 'younger brother' was under. He had been there when Shuuei first arrived at Shouka sama's doorstep with a letter of introduction from his brothers. And while Shuuei highly respected Shouka and Shoukun sama and clearly loved him and Shuurei as if they were his siblings, Seiran knew that Shuuei had been deeply hurt to be disinherited. Seiran couldn't imagine how painful it must have been for him to stay with the Ran Clan again.

At the least, Shuuei managed to blackmail his older brothers into letting him stay with Shouka sama's family once more. Seiran had to admit to feeling quite proud of Shuuei's new found ability to easily tell his brothers apart.

"Really, Shuuei, how have you been coping now that your wedding's two weeks away?"

"Good—I suppose..." Shuuei couldn't stop himself from glancing at the last letter he received from Kouyuu. And it was **the **last letter he'd ever receive too, since the man had left the Kou province a day ago to travel to Kiyou. The aqua haired scholar was to arrive ahead with his father to open the main Kou mansion while the rest of the family followed with the remainder of his luggage a couple of days later.

"Shuuei?" Seiran sat himself on the edge of his table. "Are you having second thoughts?"

Shuuei shot an annoyed look at his 'designated' superior. "About marrying Kouyuu? No." He waved his hand at the pile of correspondence he had amassed from his fiancé. "With each letter—I've never been surer we are going to be very much in love when we meet again. It's just—

"How effectively have we been in confusing matters by insisting that we're expecting the arrival of the Kou clan's prince, a Thorn Prince rather than the Thorn Mage?"

Seiran tensed slightly at the reminder, before letting out a long breathy sigh. "We really were fortunate to have kept it under wraps for this long.

"Still, Shusui has roped in Kouchou sama and her girls to spread the new misinformation. And O'jou sama has also been religiously correcting the children and having them work on the adults."

"Fortunately, Shou Taifu's been keeping his mouth shut on the whole situation."

"Oh, the Black Wolf had Shou Taishi warn him off." Seiran gave Shuuei a conspiratorial look. "And Shou Taifu's too scared to confirm to anyone what he'd previously revealed."

"Damn it! I feel—I can't help feeling responsible for his secret coming out."

"Shuuei, No one blames you for this." Seiran shook his head as he patted Shuuei's shoulder sympathetically. "Of all of us, Shusui's been one of the most devoted to Kouyuu's safety and mental health. And she's still speaking with you."

At Shuuei's curious look, Seiran kindly elaborated on the observation. "She was the defender within the tower walls for most of the war and Kouyuu had a special place in her heart."

"He was an adorable little boy?" Shuuei smiled up at Seiran, knowing he was at an age where he could have been involved in the last few years of the war. But his smile faded with the man's tensed demeanour. "Will you tell me?"

"Shoukun sama told you that—Kouyuu was a slave before the Kou's rescued him?" At Shuuei's cautious nod, Seiran went on. "Back then, underlying nearly everything Kouyuu did was an almost obsessive desire to be useful and to please or amuse the adults. It took him a long time to understand he wasn't a slave with the Kou's and that they would never sell him."

Shuuei swallowed hard at the idea that a child's play and sweetness could be contrived just to cater to an adult's amusement. "How—how did you manage to get through to him?"

A wry smile painted Seiran's lips. "Something like this couldn't be left to the adults; the Kou children had to band together to eventually convince Kouyuu that it was all right to have fun for his own sake, and not because the adults expected it of him. Hakuyuu and I weren't very effective at convincing him at first. And I, admittedly, wasn't a very good role model since I insisted on acting more like a retainer than a son to Shouka sama's family. I'd guess too that Kouyuu considered us something like authority figures since we were also much older, but he had no defence against Sara and O'jou sama.

"We'd deliberately get into trouble with him just to show him that the adults were forgiving and they loved us anyway." Seiran shook his head as he reflected on his memories. "The poor kid was completely horrified and nearly in tears that first time we 'led him astray'. Shouka sama and Reishin dono weren't fools, they understood what we were doing, plus we weren't stupid to try and do anything dangerous. So we never were harshly punished."

Seiran couldn't suppress the broad grin on his face with his next words. "The important thing about our adventures was to make sure it amused Reishin sama. The last thing we wanted was to have a situation where Reishin sama would be obligated to scold Kouyuu for our misbehaviour. So we took note of the courtiers and noblemen he disliked, and played our tricks on them. He sometimes even subtly rewarded us.

"Shusui had the worst of it getting us out of our fixes and smoothing over ruffled feathers since she was our designated protector and baby sitter. But it worked well in our conspiracy since we kids knew she'd never scold Kouyuu. She had a soft spot for him from the very beginning since he discovered and broke a curse the Hyous cast on her when she was a babe. It would have made her their mindless puppet, so Shusui was grateful to Kouyuu for freeing her from the chains of servitude to the Hyous."

The idea of a strait laced chibi Kouyuu dragged along by a group of mischievous Kou children with a harassed younger Shusui chasing after them brought a grin to Shuuei's lips. Noticing it brought an answering smile from Seiran. "Oh, I'm sure we were as bad as you're imagining it. But we reputedly weren't as troublesome as your elder brothers."

Shuuei frowned at him thoughtfully. "You know, I still haven't found anyone who'd tell me why my brothers are forever being referred to as the 'Troublesome Triplets.'"

Seiran shrugged unhelpfully. "I've only heard that they used to cause quite a stir when the Rans had court officials at Kiyou, but I couldn't say why."

"How—How long did it take Kouyuu to recover from—the shock?" Shuuei asked gently, wanting to know what had happened to Kouyuu after that fateful day when he used his powers to end the war.

Seiran understood his question immediately. "I couldn't say exactly." He admitted sadly. "Shouka sama had to move us back to Kiyou about three months later once everything else had settled down.

"O'jou sama kept pestering them about Kouyuu's recovery until they gave her her own message mirror to chat with Sara. It seemed like two years before Sara had any good news to share. And another year before Kouyuu would use his magic again."

"It's a good thing the war didn't change Kouyuu's temper." Seiran snickered a little at a memory. "So let me warn you, Ran Shuuei, do not ever get Li Kouyuu annoyed with you because he is still prone to rash actions when he loses it.

"Else you might just find yourself yanked across the garden and into the thorniest briar available."

Shuuei's eyes went quite wide at the idea. "Who did what to get that reaction?"

"You did find out about Kouyuu's—'interesting' sense of direction, right?" Seiran grinned at Shuuei's wry nod. "Well, one of Hakuyuu's unfortunate hanger-on's teased him about possessing an ability to get lost in the space of thirty paces. Which to be fair is an accurate description of Kouyuu's sense of direction."

Shuuei snorted in laughter. "I hear you. I'll just remind Kouyuu to have his finches help him find his way around the court."

Another thought came to Shuuei then. "Seiran? Were there truly no objections from the Kou Clansmen for Kouyuu's marriage to me and move to Kiyou?"

"The women-folk are making sure there aren't." Seiran grinned broadly at him. "Most may not believe the reasons why, but if the Kou men don't want any troubles at home, they'll not offer any obstacles in the way of True Love."

Shuuei blushed as he pointedly ignoring his grinning 'superior' to steadfastly turn his attention to his paperwork again.

* * *

"Arragh! Just where the hell are we?" Kouyuu crumpled the map in his hands. "I don't see any landmarks anywhere."

"Kouyuu, stop stressing out and relax." Reishin told him serenely. "You're going to a wedding, not an execution. And the ceremony won't even start until the following week."

Kouyuu tossed the crumpled map at his feet and flopped back into his carriage seat to sulk. He was nervous. He couldn't remember ever being this nervous before, and he silently berated himself for feeling this way. In truth, he was rather looking forward to seeing Shuuei again. The letters they had been exchanging over the last several weeks had gone a long way to letting him get to know his fiancé and he thought he really could like—maybe even love the other man.

A smile pulled on Kouyuu's lips at the thought that this perfect 'mate' his father selected for him would turn out to be from the Ran Clan. "Father? Do you truly have no objections to marrying me to a—Ran?"

Reishin's jaw clenched. "I trust in Aniue's judgement, but I **will **also see the boy's worth for myself before I'll let the ceremony proceed, my son."

Kouyuu sighed as he turned his attention outside the carriage window to watch the scenery pass. He supposed it was too much to hope that his father had really set aside his feud with the Ran Clan to let his marriage proceed without some challenge. However, any worries Kouyuu had about this future was soon forgotten in the light of the wave of nausea which suddenly came over him as the carriage entered the boundaries of the Capital City.

"Kouyuu?!" Reishin caught him before he keeled over. "What is it? What's wrong? Driver! Stop the carriage!"

"It's—"Kouyuu bit his lip hard enough to draw blood hoping that the pain would help him clear his mind. "Something—I feel—"

"What are you—?" Reishin groaned as he too felt it then and cursed under his breath.

"Reishin dono! Kouyuu sama!" One of their guards flung open the door to the carriage worriedly to check on his charges.

Reishin looked up then to note that the man was also looking slightly green. This was apparently not something isolated to him and his son.

"That curse!"

Reishin turned his attention to his son in alarm at the heated snarl. He could not recall ever hearing that level of disgust or hatred in Kouyuu's voice ever. "Kouyuu?"

When the man lifted his head, Reishin almost jerked away to see his son look up with eyes that were lit in an etheral violet glow. "Kouyuu?"

Kouyuu straightened in his seat and glared through the open carriage door, making the guards outside draw away in fear. "We are near where that curse was cast. I can feel it."

"Then we'd better get awa—"

"No." Reishin gulped as his son turned to face him. "No. I will not turn away from this, father." He got up to exit the carriage and began to walk towards a thicket of sickly looking trees.

"Kouyuu! Where are you going?" Reishin scrambled after him in alarm.

"Shuuei warned me, father. Kiyou knows the Thorn Mage will be coming and that he and Ran Shogun will be wed before the new moon." Kouyuu strode determinedly towards the source of nausea and pain as Reishin and the guards stumbled behind him and tried to keep up. "I've hidden from and tried to deny that title for too long, ashamed as I was for the numbers that I killed in a moment of childish panic.

"Had I the calmness, maturity and control that I have now, there would not have been any lives lost then. It was wrong for me to hide, and now I see a way I can atone for that mistake."

"Kouyuu, what—? What do you mean?" Reishin stumbled after him as he tried desperately to control his roiling stomach. He and the guards were to quickly discover if they stayed in single file almost directly behind Kouyuu, that the pain and nausea was not as strong.

"Father, one of the reasons you and mother gave me for hiding this identity was the fact that it remained only the Thorn Mage who had the power to see and break the curse threads which imprisoned a person's magic. Though the curse was unravelling, it would be a process which would take several generations to dissipate.

"However, even now threads of the curse still reach out to ensnare every babe born; though with threads of a weaker strength." Kouyuu explained calmly while he walked. "It need not be if I take care of it at its source."

At that moment, they came into a view of a dead tree. Reishin could feel the death in the land, and it made him wonder what his son, who was so much more sensitive to the flow of life, was feeling now.

"No more."

If Reishin wanted to protest, he lost his chance as his son's hands began to glow with an ethereal light. However, contrary to his expectations, Kouyuu did not throw a beam of light or energy at the tree. No, Reishin and the Kou guards watched in fascinated wonder as the young man's hands seemed to sweep through the air gently as if caressing a living thing.

At first, nothing discernable seemed apparent to them. Then, they began to realise that the heavy sickness which had seemed to weigh them down started to lighten. Light from the sun started peeking through the leaves, turning the forest which had until then appeared dark and sinister, vibrant and alive once more.

Reishin blinked with shock to realise that Kouyuu had been slowly approaching the dead tree which was the centre of the disturbance. However, at the touch of his son's hands, tiny buds began to appear on the branches. As if this was the spark needed, grey black wood faded into healthy brown bark and rich luscious leaves suddenly started sprouting from the branches as the tree was transformed and the land around them came alive again with lush grass and wildflowers.

Kouyuu leaned against the tree, panting as he finally relaxed. "There, there, your agony is over. The chains are gone and you are free once more. Live again in full health."

Reishin approached his son cautiously. "Kouyuu?"

His son turned towards him with a pleased smile on his face. "It's finally over, that ancient curse gone, father. There will be no more new threads of the curse."

Kouyuu turned towards the tree and stroked its trunk gently. "The foundation of the curse was in this tree's roots. That was why I could discern it since I had an affinity to plants. What I had been seeing were not threads, but spiritual roots stretching out to strangle and restrict.

"But it's over now. The Thorn Mage is no longer needed specifically to help break the curse threads of those who strive to learn magic." With those last words, Kouyuu's knees buckled and Reishin rushed forward to catch his exhausted son before he hit the ground.

* * *

Shoukun looked up from her embroidery and took in a deep shuddery breath. "Oh, Kouyuu."

She was not surprised to have her husband, daughter and 'adopted' sons suddenly seek her out. "Shoukun? What has happened?"Shouka asked her in wonder. "Can you feel—? I—I'm not what it is I feel."

"Kouyuu must have gone to the dead zone."

Shuurei gasped. "But that—! That is an awful place!"

"Dead zone?" Shuuei looked towards his 'adopted' family.

"A place just within the boundaries of Kiyou where magic is truly absent." Seiran was rather wide-eyed in shock. "Only we who have had the curse broken and who actively practice magic are sensitive to its existence."

"When I first returned to Kiyou after the war and felt it, I tried to research the phenomena." Shouka added. "It was a pet theory of mine that this was the cause of the non-magic field over most of the Capital city.

"I hadn't expected Kouyuu to confront it immediately upon approaching Kiyou. I thought we'd have a chance to discuss its presence first." Shouka practically pouted.

Shoukun shook her head. "Who has ever managed to talk Kouyuu out of disarming or destroying magical traps whenever he encounters them? He thinks it akin to slavery and hates them with a passion.

"Still, Reishin must be beside himself."

* * *

Some distance away from that fateful encounter and nearer a stream, Reishin knelt beside his son, whom he had leaned against a tree, and brushed the hair from his forehead fondly. "Father?" Exhausted eyes opened to look upon him.

"You are such a stubborn boy to keep insisting on doing these things alone." Reishin told him softly.

"It's—who I am." Kouyuu protested warily. "And—I'm not a boy anymore—to hide from difficulties—or truths I do not want to face."

Reishin sighed as he shook his head. "Do you need a doctor, Kouyuu? Even the guards who are not so sensitive to magic had the wind knocked out of their sails."

"No—just—" Kouyuu yawned. "I just need a moment to rest and—we can go back to the carriage."

"There's no need to rush, my son. I've told our guards to set up camp here for the night."

"Oh." Kouyuu noticed something and reached a shaky hand towards his father, but Reishin intercepted it.

"You don't have to, Kouyuu." He admonished the boy gently. "I know the threads have bound around me again. I can feel them. But I can also break them myself.

"As you have said, now that the curse has been broken at the source, it is no longer the Thorn Mage who has the ability to break the chains."

"But I can still do it far easier than—"

Reishin kept a firm hold on Kouyuu's hand. "There is no need. Let me, my son. You are wary and have done enough this day."

Kouyuu frowned at him but stopped protesting. Still he wasn't ready to rest yet, suddenly reaching for the small pouch tied to his belt with some alarm.

"Kouyuu? What is it?"

His son didn't answer immediately, only opening the pouch to reveal a bit of dirt with a small sapling. "It's a cutting of the briar rose which surrounds the maze and the tower. Mother took it for me to bring to Kiyou." Kouyuu's hand glowed over it briefly. "The poor thing was injured by the curse too."

"Injured?" Reishin blinked at him.

"It has a magic life force too, father." He explained patiently. "But it's all right now. It just needs a little while to rest and recover."

Reishin could only smile wryly as his son carefully closed the pouch and returned it to his belt. Unfortunately, this was to be the last moment of peace in their arrival at Kiyou. Something suddenly hit the camp fire causing an explosion that threw thick black smoke over the small clearing.

"Reishin dono!"

"Kouyuu sama!"

"Father!" Reishin allowed himself to fall backwards with his son's push to avoid the barrage of arrows which came at him from behind Kouyuu's tree.

In hind sight, Reishin realized that he should have accepted his son's offer to break the curse threads that bound his magic again. He was cursing a blue streak as he strove to flex his powers, reaching desperately within for the strength to overcome the curse.

"Fath—!" The abrupt muffling of his son's exhausted cry was finally impetus enough for Reishin.

"Kouyuu!" Reishin burst through the last of the curse chains, causing the land around them to heave and shift about as if it was a liquid rather than solid earth.

The anxious father lashed out indiscriminately, trusting in the charms Kouyuu had created with Shouka during the time Reishin was still new to his powers to protect the Kou guards from harm. The boy had shown his true genius to Shouka then, having taken in his cautious objections about the charms being used as a weapon again Reishin to cause the charm to require regular renewal to remain effective. The Kou guards certainly counted their blessings for Kouyuu-sama's thoughtfulness and thoroughness now as the earth seemed to whirl around in uncontrollable fury to target and crush their attackers while smoothly flowing around and over them.

However, as quickly as Reishin had reacted, it seemed he was a little too late. "Kouyuu!"

His son was gone.

The Kou guards cowered in the dirt and dust while their liege stood in the now treeless clearing. The man's entire being was fairly glowing red with power and fury. It was without doubt that the city of Kiyou could feel the earth tremble.

* * *

In the aftermath of the earthquake, Ryuuki righted the brush holder on his table as he took in the confusion and worry of the members of his court that evening. He remembered then that Kou Reishin and his son were supposed to be arriving in Kiyou that day.

"Seiran? Shuuei?" The Emperor gave his guards a fearful look. He could practically taste the bitterness of a disaster in the making.

Seiran swallowed hard. "That—that could have been Reishin Dono."

"Kouyuu?" Shuuei looked at Seiran in alarm.

It did not take very long for the members of the court to be enlightened as two men slowly emerged and rose from the floor of the Emperor's Court. The less stalwart among the officials fainted at this open demonstration of the Black Wolf's ability to move through the earth, even with a passenger in tow. Truly, since he came into his abilities in magic, the Black Wolf's capability had become even more feared.

Despite the trepidation in his heart, Ryuuki came to his feet in controlled dignity as he faced the shrouded and masked Black Wolf together with Kou Reishin.

"Reishin Dono, We welcome you to Our Court."

"Woe that I even considered returning to this cursed place which I quit during your father's reign, Emperor Ryuuki." Reishin snarled. "My son was taken within the boundaries of Kiyou and I would have him back.

to be continued

* * *

Thanks for reading.  
Cheers, firewolf


	7. Chapter 6: Setting the Stage

DISCLAIMER: The characters belong to Sai Yukino and Kairi Yura, Kadokawa Shoten, Madhouse Studios, etc., i.e., not me.  
I'm just borrowing them for a while to spin a tale

* * *

**薔薇公 (ばらこう): The Thorn Prince**  
_Chapter Six – Setting the Stage_

By firewolf

Moments after he had been grabbed, Kouyuu found himself tumbling through space for nearly a minute before gravity re-exerted its hold on him and sent him falling into unfamiliar arms. "Well what do you know? It worked."

"What?" Kouyuu looked up at the man whose hold was the only thing that kept him from an undignified sprawl on the floor.

He noticed the long unbound auburn hair first. Then a strange feeling urgently made itself noticed to the bewildered man. Kouyuu stared in shock at the glowing manacles fastened about his wrists even as his senses verified the bounds which trapped his powers.

"Good, so I see this relic is working as well. I confess, I hadn't been quite sure I wasn't being cheated when I bought them off some scavengers of the Hyou lands."

"Just what the hell is going on here?" Kouyuu pushed himself away from his captor to put some distance between them. "And how did you cast a transport spell so quickly?"

"Oh, but I didn't." The man quickly closed the distance between them to pull a pin from his collar. "My men used this interesting little dohick—"

"Could I? I've never seen a transport charm befo—"

The auburn haired man found himself offering than snatching back the charm from Kouyuu's reach again. "This was unexpected, Thorn Mage." He frowned at the aqua haired scholar in annoyance. "I think I had better remove this from your presence before we speak."

Kouyuu sighed in disappointment as his captor stormed out of his cell. But as soon as the cell door slammed behind the man, he quickly rushed to the barred window where he placed three objects and two wooden finches on the stone sill before backing away.

"Live." To his great relief the trigger word still worked and the finches took on colour and came alive, shaking their feathers out as they hopped about the stone in alarm to find themselves and their master in this sinister tower cell.

"This was unexpected, but I might as well let it also be a test to appease my father's doubts." Kouyuu told his finches as they looked up at him. "I leave it to you now, my little friends."

The little birds thrilled softly to him before tapping their claws on the objects Kouyuu left on the window sill, making them shrink to a size they could easily manage. They launched themselves into the sky with their precious burdens none too soon as the heavy cell door creaked open behind Kouyuu.

The aqua haired scholar stayed at the window and stared out into the fading light of sunset, refusing to show his captor any sign of worry or fear. "Just where am I? And who are you?" Kouyuu turned at the end of his words to face this auburn haired man.

In age, he thought his captor looked no older than his uncle Kurou, but any further resemblance ended there. Where his uncle had a stern countenance which belied his kind and generous nature, this man wore boredom and apathy like jewels. However, there was a distinctly disturbing spark of interest in his eyes when he regarded Kouyuu.

"I have been most remiss in manners to you, my honoured guest.

"I am of the Sa, Sa Sakunjun."

"Then we're—"

"In the Sa province, yes."

"So why have you brought me here?" Kouyuu shook his wrist manacles at him. "Have the Sas decided to wage war with the Kous?"

"No, no, far from that, young prince; this was just a precaution. We only wished to speak with the Thorn Mage about services that could be offered."

Kouyuu was far from obtuse about what Sakunjun meant, however, he could not hold back his blurted observation after having studied the man for that long while. "But you have no magic."

Sakunjun stared at him in shock for nearly a full minute. "Wh—what did you just say?"

"You—there—there isn't any curse threads binding you for me to break." Kouyuu elaborated uncomfortably. "Not everyone has a talent for magic. It varies greatly even in the families that have magic. Shuurei has just a fraction of her mother's powers. Kou Houju sama has very little ability too.

"I see no magic ability in you."

They stood staring at one another for a long while with Kouyuu uncomfortably aware that he had just reduced his own usefulness in his captors' control. Unexpectedly, Sakunjun started to laugh quite heartedly though significantly without any element of joy or delight in the emotion.

"So even in magic our family shows little power. " He giggled in bitter mirth when he could finally control his laughter. "Father will be so thrilled. Well, we do have other plans for you as well, Li Kouyuu."

Trapped as he was against the barred window, the aqua haired scholar couldn't back away any further as Sakunjun approached to catch him by his manacled wrists. "Since your father seems accepting of marrying you to another man, we of the Sa thought also to press my elder brother's suit for your hand."

"You're mad. The Kous have already accepted the proposal from the Rans." Kouyuu glared at him. "Besides what makes you think I'd accept?"

"Oh..." Sakunjun glanced significantly behind him to the only piece of furniture in the cell, an altar like table Kouyuu hadn't yet noticed. "We were quite sure the Rans might not like to be associated with sullied goods."

Kouyuu's eyes took in the manacles hanging conspicuously at the four corners of the 'altar' and he instantly went white with fear. "Nnnooo! Nnnooo! I donwanna! I doonnwwanna!"

Sakunjun's eyes went wide in shock as the young man he was holding transformed before his eyes. The irises of Kouyuu's eyes seemingly shrank to tiny grey rings, and his voice changed to take on the pitch and quality of a terrified child. "Please?! Please?! I'll be good. I can do this on a bed with whoever you want. I won't fight. I can be nice on a bed. I can. I really can. Please?! I donwanna be on the table. I donwanna! Please?!"

The unexpected child like plea did it for Sakunjun. And he released Kouyuu's wrists so that he could gather the younger man in his arms.

"Calm down child. I'm not the scoundrel that my brother is." Sakunjun murmured softly into Kouyuu's hair. "I'm not going to hurt you. I was only teasing you.

"It was in bad taste, but all the same I meant only to tease you. The Sa are not so suicidal as to incur the wrath of the Kou Clan by raping the son of the Clan Head."

He stroked Kouyuu's hair and back soothingly, willing the boy to stop trembling and slowly regain his senses. This really was most unexpected. Then again, Sakunjun also recalled the tales he'd once heard of the abandoned child Kou Reishin picked up. He wryly admitted that he never gave a single thought to consider what the boy's life was like before the Kous took him in. And Sakunjun took no joy in frightening a boy already this badly damaged from childhood trauma.

Feeling something bumping quite violently against his hip, the auburn haired man's eyes widened in alarm to see the leather pouch tied to Kouyuu's belt moving about as if it had something alive within it. He remembered then one of the foremost stories about the Thorn mage.

* * *

Ryuuki gulped at the clear statement from Kou Reishin. Even from the dais, he could see the faint red glow of carefully restrained power surrounding the Head of the Kou Clan. Ryuuki was more than a bit wide eyed to wonder why Reishin dono was being so polite.

"Your Black Wolf insisted I seek your leave to operate here." Reishin threw an annoyed glance at the man standing behind him.

The entire court practically shuddered at the idea of allowing the angry father free reign to investigate his son's abduction. It was a common thought that Kiyou wouldn't stand a day longer if Reishin Dono didn't find his son quickly. Still, there were those among the officials who were jealous of or disgruntled with the power that the Kous held.

"Your Majesty! It would be unprecedented to allow a private citizen free sway to investigate a private matter."

"Reishin Dono, please reconsider. You should not be investigating this on your own." A more diplomatic official interjected before Reishin could turn his head to locate the man who objected. "We have channels and skilled investigators who could probably do this less—disruptively…"

"Oh, I can be subtle and controlled." Reishin said sweetly as he turned to face this particular official. The man practically leaped to his feet before turning to stare in horror at the huge spike of earth which was emerging from the chair he had been sitting on.

"Kou Reishin!" A masked man in yellow robes stood to catch his attention. "We are not your enemy. Please reign in your temper, old friend."

The Kou Head swung around; his every expression seemed to indicate his intention to yell at the man, but when his eyes fell upon the masked man, his expression softened and calmed. "Kou Houju… well met, I see you still like this mask as compared to the last batch I sent you."

A slight nod was his only reply. "We have proper authorities, Reishin."

"Your Majesty?" Shuuei turned to Ryuuki anxiously.

"We would—"

"The Emperor's army shouldn't be involved in the private matter of a kidnapping of the Shogun's 'bride'." Fortunately for the speaker, he had hid himself well among the numerous officials.

The court erupted into bedlam as this seemed to mark the start of many officials speaking and arguing at the same time. It was into this chaos that the rest of the Kiyou resident Kous and the Rans arrived to find Emperor Ryuuki desperately trying to call his subjects to order.

Accusations suddenly started to flow as a question was raised as to how someone as powerful in magic and sorcery as the Thorn Mage and the Head of the Kou Clan could have failed to stop the Thorn Mage's abduction. The Rans, unexpectedly, were roped in as well and questioned about how the 'ordinary' brother in the family managed to avoid the famed magical traps of the Kous' estates to even meet with Reishin's son; that perhaps the Rans possessed some secret on how to thwart the magic used by the Kous.

Through all this, Shouka kept a firm hand on Reishin's shoulder, trying to keep his brother calm while despairing at the wasted time the officials were causing in their useless posturing and arguments. Catching the commotion starting up near the Emperor's podium, he turned Reishin's attention to it in time for him to catch Ran Shuuei declare quite loudly to his protesting brothers that he was going to walk out and begin the investigation himself if the whole lot of idiots didn't stop wasting time.

"Maybe I could like this boy after all." Reishin murmured in reluctant approval.

A movement from Seiran then prompted a larger smile on the Kou Head's lips. The silver haired imperial guard was creating a fire ball which was growing in size and intensity in an effort to catch the attention of the arguing idiots. However, the event which finally stole everyone's regard and caused the ruckus to die down was the sudden throwing open of the doors to the court which herald the arrival of a white and a pied finch.

The noise in the Emperor's court quickly faded into silence as all eyes were drawn to the finches flitting over their heads, darting about as if they were seeking someone. However, to Reishin's surprise, Kouyuu's finches didn't go to him but instead flew to the Emperor's podium where they circled a stunned Ran Shogun.

Long used to and trained in his reaction to the birds' arrival, Shuuei held out his hands palms up. The birds swooped down to drop three objects onto them before alighting on one of Shuuei's shoulder guards.

"My son shows you his favour."

Shuuei dragged his eyes away from the three objects growing in his hands to see his fiancé's father and the Black Wolf approach him. The expression on Kou Reishin's face made him gulp, but his sensei's eyes were kind as they regarded him over the Kou leader's shoulder.

Feeling the objects stop their growing, Shuuei obligingly showed his treasures to the two men as he tried to understand what Kouyuu had sent him. He had in his hands, a writing brush, a hand mirror and a small block of wood upon which was a picture of a phoenix painted with an ink that shimmered and changed colours in the light.

At Shuuei's invitation, Reishin snatched up the mirror and spoke Kouyuu's name sharply, causing the mirror's surface to glimmer and shine. At Shuuei's curious expression, Reishin kindly offered an explanation.

"During the war, we made these for each of the children so that we could keep an eye on them. Kouyuu took his back when he turned sixteen."

Behind them, Shouka felt a trickle of sweat roll down his neck as he sensed his daughter's eyes throwing daggers at his back. He knew that he would be hearing of this once they were home. For now though all attention was rightfully on the shimmering light which emerged from the mirror's surface to hover in midair before them.

It did not take very long for the shimmering shapes to take form and let their audience gaze upon the image of a tall auburn haired man hugging an obviously terrified Li Kouyuu in his arms. Shouka and Reishin cursed softly when they saw the glowing shackles fastened to Kouyuu's wrists. It was a painful reminder of the Kou/Hyou Clan war when the Hyous had used shackles like that to bind the powers of their captives. They knew then that Kouyuu was truly helpless in his captor's control.

"Sa Sakunjun." Shou Taishi growled unhappily when he identified the auburn haired man for everyone.

Kou Houjo noted the way Kou Reishin snapped out his fan with the mention of the man's name. Clearly, he could see there was more to the story than met the eye. The Black Wolf's eyes narrowed at his brother as well, but this was not the time to confront the issue. Not when they could all see Sakunjun remove a pin from his belt to prick his captive's finger.

As they watched, Kouyuu's frightened eyes slowly lost the light of fear and began to droop before his body went completely limp in Sakunjun's arms. The man scooped him in his arms and turned to quickly lay Kouyuu's clearly unconscious form on an altar like table near them.

A cry of alarm almost escaped Reishin's lips when he noticed the shackles attached to the corners of the table. However, the Sa man only stayed by Kouyuu's side long enough to arrange his body comfortably on the table before he flung himself away from his captive's side.

The reason for his rapid disengagement made itself known with the fountain of thorny vines which erupted from the small leather pouch that was attached to Kouyuu's belt. Sakunjun apparently moved none too soon as the vines whirled about Kouyuu's body like a storm before encasing him in a cage of thorns and roses.

Shouka let out a sigh of relief before turning his attention to Shuuei. "The Briar will protect the Kou Prince from harm. It is now up to you to bring him back safely, Ran Shuuei."

At first, Shuuei blinked at his sensei in clear surprise for that statement. Then he heard the muffled squeals of delight from his sister-in-law, half-sister, and adopted sister. It made him blush bright red at the realisation of this very public revelation, drawing a bark of laughter from Seiran.

"You do know this will very likely be immortalised in story and verse among the women-folk, don't you?" Seiran slapped Shuuei on the back while he gave Shuuei and the other smiling ladies a conspiratorial grin.

Reishin was about to impatiently demand to know what the amusement was for when his brother leaned closer to whisper in his ear. "Reishin, the Briar will allow Ran Shuuei to reach your son for the same reason I was allowed to meet my wife all those years ago."

The spark of understanding finally dawned upon Reishin as he stared at the blushing young man before him who still held the other two 'gifts' from his son in his hands. And upon whose shoulder guard sat Kouyuu's beloved finches which were apparently glaring at him rather impatiently.

Letting out a deep sigh, Reishin took one last longing look at his son lying seemingly asleep within his cage of thorns. Then he rubbed his thumb over the surface of the mirror before holding out the now dormant mirror to Shuuei. "Hold it in your right hand, think of my son then speak his name and the mirror will show him to you. Rub your thumb across the surface to end the spell."

"Reishin sama?" Shuuei was so surprised at the offer he was almost afraid to accept the mirror.

"That brush—is my son's most prized possession. That he sent it to you was a message to me that he trusts you, and that I should too." Reishin allowed reluctantly. "So—my son's safe return is apparently solely in your hands now, Ran Shuuei. Can he depend on you?"

Shuuei stood straighter and he solemnly met Kou Reishin's eyes as he accepted the mirror. "Yes, he can depend on me, Reishin dono. I will bring him home."

Reishin held Shuuei's eyes for a moment before he finally nodded and waved to the finches which sat on his shoulder. "If it is not obvious, I will instruct you now. My son's finches will lead you to wherever that—scoundrel has him imprisoned.

"The wooden block—is the Phoenix Pass. The most authoritative travel pass created by the Kou Clan. This particular pass is unique since it was made by my son's own hands and for that reason the paint will shimmer and glow in different colours. Whomever you show it to will not only allow you passage, but its added charm will ensure they are also obligated to assist you on your way."

Seiran stepped forward then. "While this quest is yours alone, Shuuei, my squad will escort you as far as the borders of the next province. We will also ensure that no more Sa soldiers have been left behind to discourage pursuit.

"When you reach the Sa province, you should approach the Governor, Rou Ensei. Present yourself to him and he will know you as I had written to him of you. He will do all he can to assist you."

"He is not alone." The Minister of Finance also stepped forward. "If you would carry my greetings to his Assistant, Tei Yuushun, my old friend will help you as well."

"You may carry my greetings as well." Reishin added reluctantly after a surreptitious pointed poke from his brother. "Yuushun better understands the mechanisms of the Sa Clan."

"The Kous are not the only ones to offer gifts and assistance." Ran Ryuuren also stepped forward, extending the Dragon Flute to his brother. "I feel that you will be in need of magic, Aniue. This was crafted by the Hyous, and I have a sense that it will be of use to you in this quest."

"Ryuuren?" Shuuei stole a glance at their frowning elder brothers before facing the young genius. "This is a Ran Heirloom—practically **your **symbol of authority."

"It is, Aniue. And therefore, I now temporarily bestow that authority upon you as well." Ryuuren grinned at him. "Between this and the travel pass from the Kous, you will have far fewer obstacles to face."

"But if—if I—"

"Do not speak of it, Aniue. Please." Shuuei's younger brother pressed the Dragon Flute into his hand. "If it brings you peace of mind… the flute will be restored to me if—anything should happen to you. But I'm expecting you to **personally **return this, Aniue."

Shuuei firmed his hold on his brother's gift. "I will see you again, Otouto."

"Still, while friends and allies are important, there must be times you will have to stand alone, Ran Shogun." The Emperor gestured for Shuuei to approach as he also beckoned a guard forward while walking around his desk.

From the guard, Ryuuki accepted a sword in a midnight blue scabbard, upon whose pommel was etched a pair of Irises, and offered it to Shuuei. "We would arm you, Ran Shogun as We offer you Our favour with the Sword of the Iris Warrior. Will you accept it?"

The Court immediately erupted in whispers as the officials reacted in disbelief for the sudden bestowing of gifts to this disinherited Ran. The fact that Ran Ryuuren was lending an heirloom of the Rans to him also clearly marked his continued favour in the Ran Clan.

And it was especially shocking that the Emperor would take the Sword of the Iris Warrior from the vaults and give it to one who was without an affiliation to a clan. An ordinary citizen had never been gifted the use of the sword before. However, that also made Ran Shuuei a very powerful ally for his Majesty who would have no worries about a trusted advisor with possible split loyalties.

Shuuei carefully tucked away the objects Kouyuu gave him into a sleeve pocket and the Dragon Flute into his belt before he approached the Emperor's dais to look at the legendary sword which was offered to him. He met Ryuuki's eyes which were filled with bright hope and invitation, understanding in its gaze that Ryuuki had intended to give him the sword all along and that was therefore why it had been so readily on hand.

"I accept, your Majesty." Shuuei knelt to offer obeisance to his Emperor. "And I would pledge this sword in your service."

Unexpectedly, when Shuuei's hand touched it, the sword briefly glowed with a cold blue light and a faint image of a deep blue Iris momentarily appear above his head. The smile on the Emperor of Saiunkoku grew wider as he nodded in satisfaction.

"Like your brother, I too believe you will need tools of magic to aid you. This sword, like Byakou and Kansho, was also made by the Hyous. May it serve you well."

"Your Majesty..."

Ryuuki smiled brilliantly as he reached out a hand to touch Shuuei's clasped fist. "Rise then, Ran Shogun. You have a mission to retrieve your fiancé, and to present your **薔薇公 (**Thorn Prince) to Our Court."

To be continued

* * *

And this is all that I've managed to complete. Hopefully, the next part won't take me too long to finish.

Encouragement is welcomed :)

Thanks for reading.  
Cheers, firewolf


	8. Chapter 7: Best Made Plans

DISCLAIMER: The characters belong to Sai Yukino and Kairi Yura, Kadokawa Shoten, Madhouse Studios, etc., i.e., not me.  
I'm just borrowing them for a while to spin a tale

* * *

**薔薇公 (ばらこう): The Thorn Prince**

By firewolf

_Chapter Seven - Best Made Plans_

October 2008

Shuuei fussed over his gear while Kouyuu's finches occasionally looked up from their bowls of water and sunflower seeds to watch his agitated movements. With the full of night upon them, Shuuei could not expect the birds to lead him in the dark, but he was filled with impatience to set off. Shouka sama had told him that the Briar would protect Kouyuu, but Shuuei couldn't be sure if his fiancé only slept, or if he had been poisoned and lay dying with every minute that passed.

Prudence told him that the Sa would not poison his love. It was without a doubt that the wrath of the Kou Clan would be quite spectacular if Kouyuu came to any harm. However, not knowing what Sakujun really used filled Shuuei with worry and concern for Kouyuu's state.

He sat on his bed again and stared at the little mirror Reishin dono returned to him. Following the instructions, Shuuei spoke Kouyuu's name activating the spell which allowed him to gaze upon his love's body seemingly asleep within a protective cage of thorns and roses.

A knock on his door made Shuuei hastily disrupt the spell to look upon his visitors. He almost groaned when he saw his elder brothers peer in on him. "Aniue—"

One of the brothers held up a hand in peace. "We are not so foolish as to believe we can talk you out of this quest, Otouto. We came just to talk."

"Please hear us out, Otouto."

"We have left too many things unsaid between us over the years..."

Shuuei sighed and nodded to bid them entry. He gestured to his tea table where there were three chairs while he remained seated on his bed. However, to his surprise his eldest brother moved to sit familiarly beside him on the bed while the other two carried the offered chairs over to seat themselves nearer. They left several bulky brown paper wrapped packages on his table, but the unexpected proximity of his brothers distracted Shuuei from thinking of them.

"Are we so distant now—" Tsuki asked quietly, "that you would forget the closeness of your childhood?"

Shuuei flushed as he looked down, unwilling to meet any of his brothers' eyes. His eyes stung to remember that more innocent time before clan business dominated their relationship.

"Otouto..." Yuki touched Shuuei's face gently to make him look up at him. "We have left things between us unsaid for too long. And it was only obvious to us too late that we did not explain ourselves adequately enough before we sent you to Shouka sama.

"It is not an excuse, Otouto. But we truly hadn't fully understood how grievously we had hurt you until you blackmailed us to escape the Ran Estates and returned here to live with Shouka sama." Yuki looked him squarely in the eye.

"Do you truly—hate us so, Otouto?" Hana asked him quietly. "We could not ignore that though you are aware what it would cost us if it became known that we could be told apart, you were willing to bring death to two of us if we did not let you go... Did we hurt you that badly to make us completely lose your respect and love?"

"After what you did to me, I couldn't stay at the Ran estates." Shuuei growled at them, unable to control the tears which escaped his eyes. "How could you **not **know that being cast out of the clan and disinherited would hurt me?!

"You never even discussed the matter with me or with Shouka sama before you sent me to him. Shouka sama was shocked to have me suddenly appear on his doorstep. He could have refused to accept me as an apprentice!"

"We meant only to grant you the freedom to choose your own path and destiny; to free you of clan obligations." Tsuki told him earnestly. "We did not disown you, Otouto. You are still a Ran in name."

"You could have sat me down and spoken to me first before sending me away." Shuuei repeated as he looked down at his clenched fists. "Shouka sama worked in the archives, and often brought me along to the palace. He didn't know, but I saw the formal records of my removal from the Clan registers before he managed to hide them.

"Can you imagine what went through my mind when I found out you quietly cast me aside?"

Yuki flushed in embarrassment. "We—we were deeply remiss there, Otouto. And we are ashamed to admit that it took the Black Wolf visiting us shortly after we had that filed to realise this."

"He quite thoroughly tore into us for not consulting him first." Tsuki added as he winced at the memory.

Hearing this surprised Shuuei. "He—he did? But I—When? I don't recall him ever being absent long enough to have visited you."

Hana gave him a wry smile. "The Black Wolf is an earth mage, Otouto. And he is rightfully feared for his skills and powers. One of which is to move through the earth at phenomenal speed."

"He appeared so suddenly among us that evening, our guards at first thought—" Yuki shuddered as he recalled that frightening night. "He was exceedingly kind to only disarm and not kill anyone during that visit."

"You'll like this, Otouto." Hana gave him a sheepish smile. "We got turned over his knee and spanked for our thoughtlessness."

"Spanked?" The news shocked Shuuei out of his misery. "He spanked you?"

"He blocked all avenues of escape or rescue from our audience chambers with mountains of earth, then turned us over his knee one by one for a spanking while he informed us at great length how disappointed he was with us for our callousness and foolishness." Tsuki winced. "We received twenty smacks apiece on a bared bottom."

"My wife quite cheerfully informed us that the scolding and spanking was pretty loud and easily heard outside the audience chambers." Yuki told him mournfully.

While Shuuei thought his brothers' physical pain couldn't have compared to the devastation he had suffered when he discovered the documents, he was finding it exceedingly hard to keep his grim expression. The very idea of their rather public humiliation within the Clan was too humorous for him to stay angry with them.

"It was incredibly embarrassing." Hana sighed. "None of us could sit comfortably for the next two weeks. And the whole Clan knew why."

"We were fortunate our Clansmen were loyal enough to us to not spread the story to the other Clans."

It suddenly occurred to Shuuei then when the incident must have happened. He remembered seeing Shoukun sama fussing over her husband's hand one morning and Shouka sama cheerfully admitting to burning it. Having experienced Shouka sama's horrifyingly bad skills in the kitchen, Shuuei had thought nothing of it. Besides, he was then witnessing Shoukun sama's healing arts for the first time, and he was absolutely fascinated by her show of power.

To realise that Shouka sama's hand was sore that day because he had used it to spank his elder brothers... Shuuei couldn't hold it in any longer. He fell back on his bed and erupted into gales of laughter. He had always respected Shouka sama, but this sealed him as Shuuei's hero.

All three brothers pouted at him for his clear amusement. But they didn't begrudge Shuuei his laughter. In comparison to the pain and heartache they caused their Otouto, the triplets got off lightly.

"Peace, Otouto?" Yuki ventured when Shuuei finally brought himself under control again. "If we could…"

"No." Shuuei decisively waved off the offer before it could be voiced. "Don't try and arrange to put me back on the Clan registers. I'm making my own destiny in Kiyou. I have no desire to be re-affiliated to the Rans after having already paid so dearly in heartache and tears when I was removed."

"We are sorry for what we did to hurt you. And we would still like to make it up to you." Tsuki told him earnestly.

"Is—is this why you're making such a fuss over my wedding?" Shuuei asked them wryly. "I don't remembered Yu-Ani and Gyokuka sama's wedding being quite this big a circus."

"The Kous' plans have a part in it too." Tsuki reminded him. "But by the end of all this, Otouto, no one will ever doubt you are a Ran in name and clearly favoured by the Clan, even if you are not a Clansmen."

"Please, let us do this for you."

Shuuei let out a long sigh before he nodded. There was little else his brothers could do to adequately make up for the past.

"Before we can get to that stage again though..." Yuki nodded to Hana and he rose to approach the table where they had left the mysterious brown packages. "We had these in the planning for you when the letter announcing the Kous acknowledgement and acceptance of your union first reached us."

"You sent—?"

"Shouka sama penned the formal proposal for you. Out of courtesy, we received a copy of its acceptance."

"Out of courtesy?" Tsuki let out a snort. "We received it like it was a bill. Shouka sama took that opportunity to make sure we handed to you as dowry a fair share of what could be regarded as the inheritance we denied you."

Shuuei blushed this time, embarrassed and touched for the concern his sensei quietly showed to him. "But I really don't need—"

"Let us, Otouto. Please just let us."

"Now come over and see what else we had commissioned aside from your wedding robes with all those fittings our tailors subjected you to."

Shuuei stared in astonished delight at the armour laid out before him. Lacking in funds and still not comfortable with his new rank, he hadn't given a thought to assembling his official uniform and armour as a General yet. Shuuei had been rather fortunate that his revealed former status as the Black Wolf's apprentice won him enough leeway that he had gotten by with his duties in court attire which would have been barely acceptable for a commoner. And he was further offered allowances by the other Generals since they knew he was under a lot of familial stress with his impending marriage, and was more concerned about that 'circus' rather than what he was going to wear when his military duties settled down. But with what his brothers were showing him now...

Tsuki could not resist teasing him for his stunned expression. "Were you expecting us to dress you in powder blue?"

Shuuei blushed, recalling his very vocal complaints and protests about the colours and the number of layers in his wedding robes making him feel like a new born swaddled in baby blue blankets. The robes and armour Hana was now pulling out of the various unwrapped packages were of a much darker blue. They were not in the hue of the Ran's rich blue, but something several shades darker and which now was much more appealing to Shuuei's senses after his past few years dressed in midnight blue and shades of grey.

* * *

When Shuuei stepped out to join Seiran and the 'honour' guard which would accompany him on the first leg of his journey, he appeared every inch the image of a General with a Ran heritage. Shouka sama had looked so very proud of him when he emerged from his rooms dressed in the light-travelling armour his brothers had included among their gifts. Shuuei knew he had touched and embarrassed his mentor that morning when he knelt before the man to offer him his respect and thanks for all that Shouka sama had done for him.

The gleam in Seiran's eyes told him that he too approved of this reflection of his new status. The older man, however, did have a curious eyebrow arched for the bright spot of red at the left corner of Shuuei's breast plate. Shuuei could only shrug as he gestured to the finches fluttering overhead as an explanation. The two little birds had refused to let him leave his room without the briar rose he had picked up all those weeks ago.

"So? Are we ready?" Seiran asked him, very aware of the barely restrained eagerness Shuuei was filled with to be on his way to rescue his love.

"Only too ready." Shuuei looked up at the birds fluttering overhead while he petted the small pouch he carried on his hip which held Kouyuu's gifts to him and the scrolls of greetings to the Assistant Governor of Sa province; the Dragon Flute hang in a simple travel sheath beside the scabbard holding the Sword of the Iris Warrior.

However, when Shuuei swung up upon his horse, the finches alighted on his shoulder guard making him crane his head to the side to look at them in surprise. They thrilled to him impatiently as they shook their heads at him.

Following a hunch, Shuuei dismounted and the birds took to the air to flutter in front of him urging him to follow. But when Shuuei mounted his horse once more, the birds alighted on his shoulder guard again and chirped at him quite angrily.

"Shuuei?" Seiran looked to him in impatience. "Let us just set off. You really only need them to lead you after you've reached Sa province."

Shuuei stared at the chirping finches for a moment and decisively dismounted, causing the birds to once more delightedly launch themselves in the air and flutter around him. "No, they don't want it that way." He started removing and sorting through the saddle bags to prepare a smaller travel bag he could carry. "They obviously want me to stay on foot."

"But—that's ridiculous!" Seiran told him in shock. "It'll take a week of hard riding to get to the Sa province. If you do this on foot, you'll take a month to get there!"

Shuuei shook his head as he slung a small pack over a shoulder. "And I believe I should trust Kouyuu's finches. They must know what they're doing."

"But—"

"Well, little friends? Will you lead me now?" The birds started off and Shuuei took a step after them only to almost fall from disorientation when he looked around him to realise he had just covered over a hundred metres with that single step. Far behind him, Seiran and the men who intended to be his honour guard stared after him in shock.

From the shadows of the nearest building, the Black Wolf stepped out of a wall to catch his attention. "Well done, my former apprentice. Though you had seldom relied on magic previously, you showed faith and trust in the tools sent to you by your 薔薇公. And thus you've passed another test in the eyes of the Kou, Ran Shuuei."

"The birds brought messages between Kou province and Kiyou daily..." Shuuei looked up at the birds in sudden wonder and understanding. "… a journey which would otherwise take three days hard riding. They could also make the journey from Sa province to Kiyou in just hours or less..."

"Kouyuu was an impatient little boy, he'd use his finches often to get where he wished to go in the shortest time possible." The Black Wolf nodded to Shuuei. "On the Kou estates, it would be but a few steps. To Sa province, however..."

Shuuei grinned. "Having a 'passenger' would understandably weigh them down, but Kouyuu's finches can still allow me to literally run like the wind."

"Come back safely, Shuuei."

"I will, Sensei." Shuuei turned to the birds and began to run.

Shouka smiled after him even as Seiran brought his galloping horse to a halt nearby. "That was—that was incredible. Was this how Kouyuu used to move about the estates so quickly?"

"You do recall how impatient Kouyuu was when he was younger, don't you?"

Seiran smiled. "So he **did **figure out how to 'fold' distance."

"Kouyuu was a determined little boy. There is very little he couldn't accomplish once he set his mind to it."

"Why didn't he tell the rest of us?"

"He wasn't one to boast." Shouka told Seiran as his eyes twinkled at him. "And he was very aware of the mischief the Mini-Kou Horde could get into if the rest of you ever found out."

Seiran blushed at the reminder of the days of their wayward youth. "Anyway—have you an idea how quickly Shuuei could get to the Sa province now?

"Probably a day and a half if he does not meet any obstacles." Shouka told him confidently. "But—"

"We know he will meet challenges." Seiran agreed grimly.

"You and your men may not be needed as an honour guard now, but your sweep of the land will probably still be warranted." Shouka advised him.

"It will be done, Sir." Seiran bowed to the Black Wolf. But by the time he looked up again, the Emperor's Assassin had already melted back into the shadows.

* * *

"How dare he? How dare he?!"

Sakujun sighed quietly to himself as his grandfather continued to rant, scream and shake his fists in useless fury at the sleeping figure within the thorn filled cell. As he had predicted, the old man was not pleased at all to hear about their clan's lack of ability in magic. And he was furious to discover that their captive's briar thorns now protected him and would prevent the Sa from forcefully marrying him to an heir in the clan.

Sakujun hoped the old man would stop his nonsense soon and refrain from provoking Kouyuu's briar. They had already witnessed an example of the rose briar's deadly protection when the soldiers they had tasked to cut down the vines were skewered and taken into its roots. The sight had completely chilled Sakujun's blood. The briar had furthermore driven them from the room and he did not want to anger it again.

Still, Sakujun really should have kept a better watch on his grandfather. Before he realised what the old man was up to, he took something from the pockets of his robe and threw it into the cell.

"Are you mad?!" Sakujun grabbed at his grandfather's robes in alarm. "What was that? What did you just throw in there?"

However, even as these questions left his lips, Sakujun could see the charm work its interesting bit of magic. Before their eyes, two exact replicas of the sleeping boy upon an altar shimmered into existence. Unfortunately, though the charm did not apparently cause any harm, the briar reacted as if they had just attacked their master.

Sakujun hastily dragged his grandfather away from the cell with all speed, racing to stay ahead of the spearing vines that came at them. He was damned if he'd let the Briar take him for food. However, before they were half way down the tower, he heard his grandfather's cry of pain and fright before feeling the man's arm torn from his grip.

Sakujun didn't look back. He knew there was nothing he could do for the old man. He closed his ears to the horrible screams behind him and raced down the tower for his workroom where he had hidden the transport charm he used to kidnap the Kou prince. If he could just reach it before the vines caught up to him...

* * *

Shuuei carefully kept his eyes focussed on the birds flying ahead of him as he ran, trusting in Kouyuu's finches to lead him safely. Around him, everything else was a blur of movement as he traversed the land at a dizzying speed.

This was truly magic at a breath-taking level and—it was **exhilarating**. Shuuei felt as if he was literally flying over the land. It rivalled the rush he got in his younger days when he was allowed to race the best stallions in his brother's stables. However, Shuuei also realised he shouldn't enjoy this too much. After all, he was on a mission to rescue his fiancé. He was not out on a frivolous trip, or a lark.

As if the thought summoned it, he suddenly found himself slowing to a more normal pace and facing his first obstacle. Shuuei looked at his surroundings while he stood on the banks of a raging river for a long moment as he tried to orient himself to ascertain where he was. By his best guess, Kouyuu's finches had led him on as direct a path as was safely possible towards the Sa province. Unfortunately, that also meant he was miles away from the river's usual crossing.

Shuuei had tried to gesture the birds to turn away and head towards the bridge, but the birds refused to alter their path. Shuuei growled in frustration as he glared at the river the finches insisted he cross. He realised that there was no way he could hope to swim the river. The current was far too strong, and while Shuuei was a good swimmer, he frankly did not like the odds of avoiding mishap while weighed down by the travel pack he carried and the armour he wore.

The finches swooped around him playfully while he pondered his options before they finally dropped him a hint by pecking on the Dragon Flute he carried in a sheath beside his sword. Looking from the birds which were now fluttering over the middle of the river, and to the flute he had taken from its sheath, a glimmer of understanding washed over Shuuei prompting him to lift the Dragon Flute to his lips.

He blew a gentle melody he remembered learning when he was a child. A tune he had once enjoyed playing because its soothing nature helped him lighten the frustrations and stress of his studies when all around him used to compare him unfavourably with the genius that was his younger brother. If asked, Shuuei would admit that he wasn't exactly sure what he had expected to happen when he played the Dragon Flute. However, the results he achieved were nothing to complain about.

The peaceful music seemed to take on physical form to lay itself over the raging waters, gentling the flow to a state where Shuuei could see stepping stones uncovered in a path over the expense of water. The finches fluttering over the first stone invited Shuuei to begin his walk over the river while he carefully continued playing the Dragon Flute.

For that long while, he had been so lost in the sweet music from the flute, it was almost shock to him when his boots touched the opposite bank of the river, making him stop his playing. The instant the music halted, the river roared once more over the stretch of water Shuuei had just passed. Looking back at the river and to the flute in his hands, Shuuei couldn't suppress the grin on his lips as he thought of the significance of what he had just done.

He now had the answer to his curious pondering over what magical powers the Ran clan could lay claim to if they were freed from the bindings of the curse; Power over water.

An impatient chirp brought his attention back to the finches which now swooped around in front of him, clearly eager for him to set off again. Storing the Dragon Flute back in its sheath, Shuuei gave the river a last look and smile before he turned to start running again; his confidence in his quest greatly bolstered by this easy surpassing of an obstacle.

* * *

Sakujun moaned softly as he slowly regained his senses to take in his surroundings. In all honesty, he was surprised to still be alive. The vines had caught up to him just as he reached his workroom. A coil of thorns had him by an arm, and he had reached blindly with his free hand to grab the nearest weapon to flail it at his attacker while trying to kick the door closed on the vines.

At the shut door, Sakujun noted the pile of dried up and withered vines which had been left behind after their brief fight. He lifted that hand now to see that he held a set of magic dampening shackles and almost started giggling in hysterical relief. It had been a good idea after all to part with gold for the second set of shackles.

However… Sakujun looked at the arm which had been grabbed and swallowed hard when he saw the shredded nature of the sleeve. The fact that he could not feel the arm at all, told Sakujun that the briar may have killed him anyway.

Cloth wrappings tied firmly over the lacerated limb slowed the bleeding, but Sakujun knew that ultimately it wasn't going to be enough to stop him from bleeding to death if he did not receive more expert medical attention. Unfortunately, he also knew this assistance was unlikely to be forthcoming at all.

He couldn't leave the tower which the briar all to clearly now completely surrounded. His grandfather, Sa Chuushou, was obviously dead. His elder brother Soujun had his own agenda and part to play in this drama; he would have no concern or thought to check on him and their grandfather. Kokujun was even more useless and probably hiding at the Sa estates.

And the transport charm? Sakujun was only now remembering that triggering it would send him into the heart of the Briar by Kouyuu's side. He hadn't yet the opportunity to move the charm's counterpart to a different location.

Sakujun had to reflect and wonder how pathetic he was now to be dying alone and unmissed by anyone. He had taken part in his grandfather's plans out of boredom; thinking that he would be amused by the drama which would surround the kidnapping of the Kou Prince and the confrontation it would precipitate between the Sas and Kous.

He hadn't any faith at all in his grandfather's plans to force the boy into marriage with Soujun, even if they were able to shackle the powers of the Thorn Mage with the manacles taken from Hyou lands. In fact, he had long prepared that little sleeping drug for the boy, thinking to spoil his delusional brother's plans to rape and bully the helpless lad into agreeing to their union.

If asked, Sakujun would admit that he did this out of self preservation for their clan; for Sakujun knew that Kou Reishin was a vindictive man and he clearly loved his adopted son. After all, the man had embroiled his clan in a war with the Hyous all so he could keep Li Kouyuu as his son. Sakujun couldn't imagine the wrath the Head of the Kou Clan would rain upon the Sas if any harm came to his boy, and he had been sure Soujun wouldn't waste any time with Li Kouyuu if he lay unconscious.

In hind sight, Sakujun knew now that he should have refused to take part in the plainly ridiculous plans. There was no discernable way the Sas could have emerged victorious with this kidnapping. But he had been looking for something to relieve the apathy that filled his life.

He had thought that he could sit on the sidelines as the disaster unfolded. He had been so sure his subtle warning to Kou Reishin, and his subsequent aid to the boy by drugging him to keep him safe from his elder brother, would ensure his safety from the fall out.

Alas, he hadn't paid enough attention to the legends which surrounded the Thorn Mage and the rose briar which was his to command. And worse, despite witnessing their deadly protectiveness for their master, he still hadn't given the Briar sufficient respect for their independent action and nature. **That **was why he now sat slowly bleeding to death in his workroom.

Letting out a long sigh, Sakujun stumbled over to a table beside a wall mirror and smoothed a hand over its surface. "Let me see the boy."

The mirror glimmered for a moment. Sakujun smiled glad to see the charmed mirror working. It was a pity that he could not use this mirror to send messages, but only to silently spy on others within the province. Despite amassing a good collection of curios and magical objects over the years, he hadn't anything among them which could help him now.

The mirror soon showed him the dark cell with three identical altars upon which rested three peacefully sleeping Li Kouyuu's. He understood his grandfather's cleverness now. Even if Ran Shuuei managed to identify and obtain a counter drug for the one Sakujun used on his fiancé, it was doubtful he would have three doses of it. He could not be expected to be able to drag three limp bodies to safety where he could at leisure identify the real Li Kouyuu. The man would have to correctly tell his love apart from the duplicates to not waste the drug. That was certainly an amusement Sakujun could look forward to witnessing—if he lived that long.

Sakujun stared at the Kou prince while he turned his thoughts to his impending death. He could not hate the boy. He had brought this upon himself. Perhaps though, before he died, Li and his fiancé would let him satisfy a curiosity; perhaps he'd stay alive long enough to see an old fairy tale unfold to reveal that they were actually factual and the Briar would easily part and make way for the Kou Prince's 'one true love' to reach him.

Yes, it would almost make up for his death if he could live long enough to witness this. Sakujun fumbled in his pockets for a candle which he placed on the table before him. That and the deaths of the two men, if he had the strength as well to speak the trigger word which would light this little candle from the Hyous.

His workshop was filled with a good amount of flammable material, and Sakujun was sure he could easily set it aflame. He thought it would make a beautifully tragic end to this new fairy tale unfolding around them if the Thorn Mage and his General were to be burned to death just when the lovers were reunited.

to be continued

* * *

Thanks for reading.  
Cheers, firewolf


	9. Chapter 8: Shared Secrets

DISCLAIMER: The characters belong to Sai Yukino and Kairi Yura, Kadokawa Shoten, Madhouse Studios, etc., i.e., not me.  
I'm just borrowing them for a while to spin a tale   

* * *

**薔薇公 (ばらこう): The Thorn Prince**

_Chapter Eight – Shared Secrets_

By firewolf  
October 2008

The Finance Minister, Kou Honju, was never one to waste time, so it was unsurprising that he sprang his question on his guests almost immediately after the door closed on the servants who served them. "Reishin, why did you **let** Kouyuu be taken."

Clearly not expecting the question, the Head of the Kou clan nearly spilled the tea he had just been serve over the floor. "What?! You're suggesting I deliberately **allowed** my son to be kidnapped, Honju?"

Honju took off his mask and gave his friend a pointed look. Reishin turned towards Shouka for support, but found his Aniue also glaring at him in challenge. Swallowing at the stern looks directed at him, Reishin relented to tell the truth.

"The Sa Clan had planned this ever since news of Kouyuu's impending marriage broke." Reishin admitted at last. "Yes, I did not take extra precautions. But that was a fault of **over confidence**. You know I would **never** deliberately place my son in danger.

"I was—wrong to not take Sakujun seriously when I received his letter warning me of his grandfather's plans. He—promised that Kouyuu would not come to any harm if the abduction succeeded."

"Yet you're not leading the field to storm the Sa province because?" Honju continued to press. "Sakujun isn't trust worthy, Reishin. Kouyuu could have been poisoned!"

"He wasn't poisoned." Reishin took out a small object he had tucked into his robe and showed Shouka and Honju a tiny painting of Kouyuu as a boy of fifteen. "Kouyuu enchanted this for me when he took away the mirror.

"His collar would normally be red. If his life or health were in danger the ribbon on his collar would be in shades of grey. It would turn black if he—is near death.

"Kouyuu's collar is blue. That means he's in a coma. He is in little danger unless we leave him there too long."

The Emperor's Minister of Finance relaxed at last to know the boy wasn't in as great a danger as he initially feared. "Still, Reishin, it seems most unlike you to quietly do nothing." Honju nodded towards Shouka. "I have heard legends of your true speed in traversing the earth should you wish it."

Shouka smiled disarmingly. "This is Ran Shogun's quest. It behoves us to trust him."

"Yes…" Reishin growled unhappily. "The Ran boy still has to prove himself to me. If my niece deserves the best, my own **son** should get no less.

"We shall see how long the boy takes and in what state he returns with Kouyuu."

"Reishin—" Honju let out an exasperated sigh. "Not that I think he will, but what if Ran Shuuei fails?"

Reishin raised his fist and let a crackle of power surround it. "Then **I** will go to the Sa Province and **take** back my son.

"I am no longer the novice in sorcery as in the days of the Clan wars, Honju. And I did warn Sakujun that I would return any injury or hurt done to my son a **hundred**-fold.

"By his actions there could be no more Sa Clan, just as there are no more Hyou's."

"And my brother would not walk alone."Shouka gave Reishin a nod before he faced the Emperor's Minister of Finance. "The Black Wolf wouldn't even need to ask the Emperor's permission, or bring the rest of the Wolves into this family matter."

Indeed, the huge charade Kou Shouka played continued to amaze Honju. He thought the subterfuge that protected the identity of the Black Wolf a masterful performance. The Kou brothers were well known for their powers over the earth. However, Kou Shouka was only ever recognized as a gentle archivist at the palace, and Honju knew the citizens of Kiyou thought he just used his control over the earth to keep his garden. This was most apparent during the succession wars when he tirelessly raised minerals and tilled his land to maintain his gardens so that he could feed the many peasants and common folk who flocked to his family for their care and generosity.

It also helped that Kouyuu would often use his finches to send special seeds and fruit tree saplings to his Uncle's family which would bear bountiful harvests of fruit and vegetables. If it were not for Shouka's power over the earth and Kouyuu's cleverness, Honju was quite sure the Archivist's estates would now be barren instead of the lush garden that it still was.

The Black Wolf, on the other hand, was the only Kou clansman known to be able to move through the earth. And no one would even consider associating the kind and harmless librarian with the Emperor's feared assassin.

"However, I do reiterate that I have faith in my ex-apprentice's abilities." Shouka told them serenely interrupting Honju's thoughts.

Reishin only grunted and snapped his fan in irritation at his brother's pronouncement; clearly worried and impatient for his son's safe return.

"Only for Kouyuu, do I ever see this much emotion and passion in you, Reishin." Honju sighed softly. "You really should let your son know the true depth of your love. **Before** it's too late for him to ever know."

"He has his wedding robes and his dowry for his new life in the capital city."

"And you **know** Kouyuu doesn't attach very much value to material trappings." Shouka reminded him pointedly. "I understand Kouyuu recently started to call you 'father', but that only came about because the two of you were arguing over his wedding robes and trying to emotionally blackmail each other.

"You could do a lot more, Otouto."

"I—know, Aniue." Reishin let out a deep sigh. "I will make sure of it before I leave Kiyou.

"But that's provided the Ran boy lives up to your expectations."

"I have little doubt Ran Shuuei **will** prove worthy, Reishin." Shouka petted his brother on the shoulder. "Else I would never have suggested their marriage."

* * *

The sun had already begun to touch the horizon when the birds lead Shuuei to a stream and refused to go on. He accepted their guidance with good grace and set up a simple camp for himself and the birds; laying out water in a cup and sunflower seeds for them while he pulled out travel rations for himself.

By his estimation, they would reach the outskirts of Sa Province the next day. Shuuei ran a hand over the sword Ryuuki had gifted to him. It briefly glowed a shimmering blue with his touch as if to say in comfort that he need not worry it would fail him.

From the sword, Shuuei's hand move to take out the mirror for him to check on his love. The image which hovered before him showed Shuuei that Kouyuu still slept peacefully within his cage of thorns and roses. With a bit of concentration, Shuuei had tried to expand the view of his love's cell to get an idea of the layout of the prison he was kept in. But the image stayed stubbornly unchanged, remaining focussed on Kouyuu's upper body and face.

At the least, Shuuei felt some relief that there were no lines of pain or distress on Kouyuu's pale face. So he had the hope that Sakujun had used a sleeping potion on his love. He stared at the image for a long time as night swept over the land, not caring that his modest camp fire soon died and grew cold causing this glowing image to be the only illumination in his small camp.

When the stars started to appear in the sky, Shuuei finally put the mirror away and leaned his head against his tree in preparation to sleep. If he did reach Sa province the next day, he knew he would need to be rested, alert and ready to face the obstacles that were sure to be thrown in his face by the Sa.

It seemed that he had only just begun to close his eyes when he noticed a faint shimmering at his left where he had settled the finches with their water and food. Shuuei's hand immediately went for his sword as he faced that direction, only to gape in surprise as the two finches glowed brighter and grew in stature till they became a man in brown and black robes and a woman in a white gown.

"You are—"

"We greet you with joy, Ran Shuuei, the one true love of our Kou Chan." The woman spoke gently.

Shuuei was immediately reminded of the legend Shoukun and Shuurei had told him of the Thorn Mage. And 'Kou'—he remembered that as Kouyuu's name before Reishin Dono rescued and adopted him.

The man smiled at him as if he heard Shuuei's thoughts. "Yes, we would have you know that there actually is more to your Kouyuu's story than what the Kous know."

"Would you listen and learn?"

Shuuei nodded and sat attentively, his mind awhirl to realise that he was living a moment filled with enchantment and magic. After Shoukun and Shuurei had shared the legend with him, he had wondered how Kouyuu's life was with the slavers and if he truly was abandoned that young. Currently faced by a man and a woman who had seemingly been the two finches, Shuuei believed he was about to find out. And like Shoukun and Shuurei so many weeks ago, these two strangers showed equal skill in telling the story together, seamlessly trading off and picking up the piece from person to person as if they spoke as one.

**_As the Kous thought, Kou chan was abandoned when he was but a babe since the Hyous thought he had little magic potential. However, the Hyous were not able to sell the babe to slavers as the Kous believed, for the slavers would not have wished to waste their time and resources taking care of a baby and raising him to an age when he would finally be of use. Instead, on his return from the slave market, the Hyou lord decided to leave the baby in a snowy field to die from exposure, or be killed and eaten by the woodland creatures which might be scavenging for food during the winter._**

Shuuei clenched his fist and swallowed hard at the idea of the danger the heartless man had left the baby to. His mind was filled with fearful thoughts of the meat eating beasts of the woods and fields which would be glad to make a meal of a helpless child.

**_Fortunately, the Hyou man was not to know that he had placed the babe in the path of an old man who was that day taking a short cut through the snow fields on the way to the market. And he stumbled upon the child who had by then almost faded away from the cold. As he and his wife did not have children of their own, the old man thought the babe was a child of fortune given to him by the gods, so he happily brought the child home with him._**

**_Since the baby brought such brightness and joy into their lives, the old couple called the boy Kou (光), their little 'light'. And they lived happily for the first few years of the child's life. However, they unaware that as a child thriving under their care and surrounded by plants and farmland, Kou chan was also beginning to touch the lines of power and magic. Indeed, the old couple were simply happy to rejoice in the bountiful harvests that they received from their modest farmland. They did not note, nor understand that it was Kou chan whose childish exuberance and innocent touch was the cause of their good fortune._**

**_Sadly, there were others who noticed this and regarded this tiny farmstead with jealous eyes. And they rightly attributed the old couple's unexpected prosperity to the child which seemingly dropped from the sky and into their arms. Unfortunately, that jealousy was to grow till one day, during the fourth year of the boy's life, these evil men were to act on that poisonous envy._**

**_On that fateful day, the boy had picked up a cold from the chilly weather and so the old couple had warmly wrapped up the child and left him to watch their home while they went out to the fields to work. However, though the boy faithfully awaited their return when the sun began to set, his parents never came home. With the night fast upon him, the boy left the house to look for them. But found only a broken plough and the men who slaughtered his parents._**

**_He was brought back to the home of one of the men and given into the care of servants, but the boy never recovered from the shock of seeing his parents' dead bodies. And contrary to their belief that Kou chan was a child of good luck and fortune, the evil men were to learn that the child's unconscious and innocent retribution for his loss would bring ruin upon them of an unimaginable magnitude._**

**_For as easily as the child had raised and bred bountiful harvests for his parents who filled his life with kindness and joy, he could also suppress the gifts of the green. And as Kou chan withdrew into himself in grief for his lost parents, in unconscious sympathy the crops responded in like. The farmlands of the men who killed his parents suffered the worst harvest their families had ever faced. The yield from their lands did not even produce enough to feed their own families._**

**_The evil men were then to realise and recognise that the boy was the root cause of their misfortune. And among themselves they made the decision to sell him to slavers with the demand that they bring the child as far away from their properties as possible in desperate hope that the distance would allow normal providence to reign over their lands once more._**

**_That, unfortunately, was never to come to pass. For the boy's grief had poisoned their lands, and their harvests from that day forth would stay poor and unequal to the needs of their families. And thus, they would never recover from their evil deeds and eventually perished in poverty._**

**_For Kou chan though, he was to begin then his life of hardship as a slave to the whims of his master's will and desires._**

Shuuei's eyes were filled with tears for the horrible past his love had survived. But he felt too a spark of vindictive satisfaction for the punishment the murderers suffered.

**_We— his parents, could not leave him, Ran Shuuei. So we became spirit birds to stay by his side. But as spirits, we could not protect our child nor save him from his cruel masters. It was true agony for us to watch helplessly when these harsh masters mistreated our child. We could only offer comfort, love and shelter in the dreams Kou chan would escape to every night. And yes, it was during this period of heart rendering suffering that Kou chan came to notice and secretly hone his abilities in magic to provide himself with food and medicines when his masters regularly starved or hurt him and offered little to no aid for the injuries he would suffer from the work he did for them._**

**_Then in his seventh year, the village Kou chan had been brought to by his latest master was worried about the heavy snows that winter. It was their belief that offering a sacrifice to the mountain god would prevent spring floods. And this was why Kou chan was brought out to the mountains and tied to what the village had considered a sacred tree._**

**_Left alone that night in the cold and snow, he performed then what he thought was his greatest and final work of magic. When he made his finches of wood, we knew he was unconsciously thinking of us, for they were made in our image. And to turn wood to flesh and blood, he shared with his creations a spark of his own life force._**

**_Understand, beloved of our son, Kou chan is but a mage of the green. All floras in whatever form they may take are therefore his to command and control. However, he cannot create life. And while he succeeded in creating his finches of flesh and blood, they were not alive. But in his creations, our spirits found empty bodies to inhabit now. So through these birds, __we_****_ could live again. And we were determined that he would not die in that barren land._**

**_Despite his cries of distress, we hardened our hearts and flew away from him then, out into the night to find someone who could and would rescue our son. It was with the gods favour that we quickly found the Kou man in his passing carriage with his bride to be. Where upon we stole a handkerchief made for him by his beloved and lead him to our son._**

"The rest is as what the women-folk of the Kous have immortalised in the Legend of the Thorn Mage."

"This—this is an incredible story…" Shuuei breathed as he stared at the couple who sat on the grass before him. "And does Kouyuu know this? Does he know that you're—?"

The woman shook her head sadly. "This is a truth Kou chan knows only in his dreams."

"He was far too young to remember us before we were lost to him." The man agreed as he looked to his wife. "During his years as a slave, when alone—he would unconsciously look out somewhere in the distance and he would seemingly remember that time when he was left at our home to await our return. But he never realised or understood that it was us—his parents whom he was waiting for."

"He has forgotten us, but we do not mind, Ran Shuuei. We want only his happiness. And we know it is with you."

"But how can you let—Kouyuu should know!"

"He has his new father in Reishin sama and a new mother too with Yuri Hime." The woman shook her finger firmly at him. "We have come forth to tell you of our existence because it is important for you to know and understand the one you love."

"Kouyuu has only recently accepted Reishin sama and Yuri Hime as his father and mother in his heart, and finally discarded the last remnants of the idea that he was their slave." The man added earnestly. "It has taken him too long to trust and accept this offer of love, beloved of our son. Please, do not add complications to his life."

"We thank you for your concern for our feelings, but we are truly happy as we are. We are our son's friends, confidents and watchful guardians, and we love this life that we have with him now."

The man's lips pulled into a sly grin with his next words. "If you want to help us, you could take over our duties to remind our son to take time off and not work himself to exhaustion."

"Oh, yes. That would be excellent. We do pester him so and drive him to distraction enough that he sends us to sleep by turning us back into wooden finches." The woman laughed merrily. "And yes, fortunately, we did pester him when he very nearly packed the Kou's entire library to bring with him to Kiyou; because that was what prompted him to turn us back into wooden finches for the journey to Kiyou and made it possible for us to be with him when he was kidnapped."

"Kou chan would act so guilty when he restores us to life just hours or at most days later. But you can take over this duty from us from now on."

"Don't look so glum, Ran Shuuei." The woman reached over to take his hands in hers. "Life truly is quite grand as a bird with little worry of responsibilities beyond watching our child grow."

"But—now that you've told me all this, aren't you concerned at all that I will one day tell Kouyuu about you."

The couple smile at him mysteriously. And  Shuuei became suddenly aware that his head was feeling thick and his limbs heavy from lethargy.

"But then, Kou chan does always remember and know us as his first parents in his dreams. But he also always forgets after he wakes."

"And you know us now as well, Ran Shuuei… in your dreams…"

* * *

Shuuei woke at dawn to the finches hopping on his arm and tugging at his sleeve in impatience for him to get up. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes tiredly before looking at the two finches, blinking at them as a fleeting thought came to him that he had dreamed of them during the night. But he couldn't remember the dream.

However… Shuuei held out his hands to them and they alighted on his fingers to chirp brightly at him. He found himself feeling great affection for Kouyuu's finches. They seem no more just Kouyuu's toys and tools, but truly friends and companions.

Shuuei could feel a new lightness in his heart as he lifted his friends to sit on his shoulder guard while he gathered and packed the gear he had taken out. He realised then that he didn't feel quite as lonely as he did before in his journey to Sa province.

* * *

Seiran slammed his fist on the table causing the tea cups to jolt with the force of his blow. "It wasn't Sa guards or men that we found but the Satsujinzoku."

"Peace, Seiran." Shouka waved his hand in a calming motion at his adopted son. "We had been wondering if the Sa would have acted so openly by using their own clansmen. It does make more sense now to see that they weren't quite that bold."

"But the Satsujinzoku—Ensei and I destroyed that band! I was so sure…" Seiran growled in helpless frustration as he stared at his clenched fists. "And now Shuuei is travelling to Sa to face them alone…"

Shouka's hand came to rest over Seiran's as he made the younger man meet his eyes. "Are you truly doubtful of Shuuei's skill to defeat these men? Or are you upset that you didn't succeed in personally dealing with this band of scoundrels?"

Seiran flushed guiltily. "I'm sorry I—"

"No, no, you've in fact given us an excuse." Shouka winked at him. "Ran Shogun's quest is to rescue his beloved. However, the mechanisms of the Sa is something that **we** could justifiably take an active hand with.

"Let us go see the Emperor."

Seiran looked at the Black Wolf suspiciously. "Is Shoukun sama going to be upset with us over this?"

"Who says she has to find out?" Shouka told him brightly. "I'll just be staying over in the archives for a couple of days to complete some filing I had allowed to pileup."

"But—the Sa province is weeks of hard riding away. We don't have something like Kouyuu's finches to speed our way." Seiran protested in confusion, while Shouka led them towards the Ryuuki's quarters. "How are we—?"

"Oh, we have a much faster way of travelling." The Black Wolf's eyes gleamed at him making Seiran shiver involuntarily.

~to be continued~

* * *

Hope the readers following the story are still enjoying this.

The grand battles come in the next chapter. I promise! It'll wind to a close in a couple more chapters, though I'm sorry that I won't make it before the end of October like I'd been aiming to. :(

I'll hope to get the last two chapters done quickly.

Thanks for reading.

Cheers, firewolf


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